The Roads of War
by Sierra.BN312
Summary: Our galaxy is home to billions of stars, each star could hold new life, and every life holds a new story. Commander Jane Shepard attempts to rally the galaxy against the Reaper threat, but a distress signal leads her to discover more than what she bargained for.
1. Prologue

_**This type of crossover category is something that is pretty large for sci-fi nerds like ourselves, and it has a lot of good stories, and several ideas. I've had a few ideas, and I'm hoping with ya'lls input whether or not to go through either one or the other so for now, I'll just put this up and let you guys decide. But both of these ideas will take place during Mass Effect 3, now some of the events within the game's universes have been deliberately changed in order to further the stories and ensure things flow smoothly.**_

* * *

Prologue – The Spartan and the Shepard

The night was bright with the stars shining down, as a grandfather and his grandson walked outside through the beautiful snow filled forest back home.

"Did all of that really happen?"

"Yes, but some of the details were lost as time went by, but yes, she did do all of those things."

"And what about the Spartan and his friend?"

"They did stop the menace from spreading across the galaxy, but they were lost in space for many years before they were rescued."

"Was it the Shepard?"

"It was…" The grandfather looked up to see the stars in alignment telling him the time already, "…it's getting late, we should head back home."

"Aww, can't you tell me more about the heroes?"

"Well, I suppose so. It all started when the Spartan and the Warrior escaped the second ring…"

* * *

-December 11th, UNSC year 2552; Installation 04B, Alpha Halo's Replacement Ring-

"Gun it, Chief! Jump! Floor it! Right into the hangar

The Master Chief and the Arbiter had been driving back towards the UNSC frigate _Forward Unto Dawn_ , avoiding an onslaught of Flood and Sentinels that had been trying to kill them in their escape of the now active Installation 04B over the Ark. 343 Guilty Spark had stated that a premature firing of the Installation would result in not only destroying the Halo, but quite possibly also destroying the Ark as well.

The Warthog makes the massive gap between the platforms into the _Dawn_ 's hangar bay but it doesn't land well, tumbling and rolling as it crashes into the frigate's hangar. The Master Chief and the Arbiter recover, then the _Dawn_ shifts. A Scorpion tank begins to slide towards the Arbiter, who takes cover behind a pile of crates, with the tank plowing into it. The Chief leaps over the Warthog and hesitates, seeing the Arbiter digging himself out of the crates. The Chief nods at him, and the Arbiter nods back, both in knowing what to do. The Arbiter rushes to the bridge, while the Chief runs to a control terminal and plugs Cortana in to take control of the frigate.

Cortana then appeared with her glowing, light blue, holographic form on the panel.

"Hang on!" the A.I. shouted.

Cortana ignited the thrusters at full burn and launched the Dawn at full speed away from the exploding Halo. The Chief grabbed onto the terminal, hanging on for life as the _Dawn_ left Halo's atmosphere. As the Spartan tried to stay anchored, the Warthog flew out, which struck John on its way through the open hanger doors and out into empty space. The Chief flew off the panel, and then glided down the floor towards the doors, with the self-destructing Halo looming beneath. The Chief punched his fist hard into the floor to get a grip, halting near the back end of the hangar. Cortana reached out her arm towards him, afraid to lose him. Her closest friend.

"Chief!" Cortana yelled with worry in her voice.

The Scorpion flew out towards the Spartan. Seeing the tank looming towards him, Chief ducked his head just in time as the tank flew over him, narrowly missing the Chief. The Scorpion smashed the floor behind the Chief and fell back towards Halo. John began to climb back up to Cortana. After a few seconds passed, the Master Chief finally made it to the holotank that contained the A.I he went through the Flood infected _High Charity_.

Meanwhile, the Arbiter made it to the bridge and sat down at the controls.

The Chief braced himself behind the panel as he reached his hand to the panel to recover Cortana's chip to plug her back into his helmet. The Spartan felt the cold sensation go through his body as his A.I. companion was once again in his helmet.

"If we don't make it..." Cortana said sounding as if she was accepting death.

"We'll make it." The luckiest Spartan replied in confidence.

"It's been an honor serving with you, John."

The Master Chief finally rested his head back, exhausted from the events that occurred on Earth, the Ark, _High Charity_ , and Installation 04B. The Halo Installation suddenly exploded, which engulfed the hangar in a binding white light. Soon, the only thing they saw was a blinding bright light before they blacked out.

* * *

-March 3, 2553; Earth, outside the portal to the Ark in the ruined industrial city of Voi-

There stood, on what is now UNSC's most important and respected memorial, Lord Hood, the Arbiter and seven Marines armed with Battle Rifles.

Lord Hood now started one of mankind's greatest speeches. He took off his white military hat to pay respect for those who fallen and have made a huge contribute to the war.

"For us the stormed has passed. The war is over.'' Lord Hood bowed his head to show his endearment, "But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure…sacrifice, and unshakable conviction that their fight, our fight, was elsewhere."

The Arbiter watched the memorial, the Elite stood solemnly with the Marines. He listened to the UNSC's leader say his speech for the human's heroes that died in action to the onslaught of the Covenant and the horror of the Flood, so humanity can live on.

"As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten."

Admiral Hood placed his hat back on, and saluted.

Sgt. Stacker issued orders to the marines, "Present arms!"

Seven Marines raised their Battle Rifles with the pride and each fire a single burst of three shots: a 3-volley salute.

Later, Hood and the Arbiter stood alone at the Memorial, which appeared to be a Pelican wing, decorated with pictures of the fallen, including Captain Keyes, Sgt. Johnson and so many other soldiers that fought bravely for humanity.

"I remember how this war started. What your kind did to mine. I can't forgive you. But..."

Hood held out his hand to the Thel Vadam, the Arbiter.

"You have my thanks. For standing by him to the end." Lord said as he made a reference to the one who won them the war.

The Arbiter slowly shook Admiral Hood's hand with his own four fingered hand. After letting go, Hood turned to the memorial once more to look at a sad site that he thought he would never think they would ever see or really anyone would ever see, the Arbiter shared Lord Hood's sad gaze.

"Hard to believe he's dead." The UNSC leader said with sadness, still not wanting to believe the most famous Spartan, that won the war for the human race, is with other Spartans that are M.I.A.

The Elite in black ancestral armor looked away towards the Assault Carrier, Shadow of Intent, which hovered silently in the sky of Earth.

"Were it so easy." The Arbiter finally spoke to Lord Hood. A phrase he said to Master Chief when he saw him on Earth, when the Spartan aimed a Magnum at his throat.

Thel Vadam left the Memorial. His Separatist Phantom headed back to the _Shadow of Intent_ , which still hovered in about the same position the Portal to the Ark once was. The Arbiter meet Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum on the bridge. The white armored Elite with some missing mandibles looked at a holographic image of a planet. He saw the Arbiter approach him, and turned off the hologram of Earth.

"Things look different, without the Prophets' lies clouding my vision. I would like to see our own world… to know that it is safe." Rtas 'Vadum said as if he is looking at his home world for the first time.

"Fear not. For we have made it so." The Arbiter spoke with pride and confidence.

The Arbiter clenched his fist to his chest, as a sign of honor.

"By your word, Arbiter." Supreme Commander, Rtas 'Vadum spoke with respect as he repeated the gesture the Thel Vadam made.

The Arbiter took a seat on the command chair, as he assumed command of the _Shadow of Intent_. The silver armored Elite spun on his chair.

"Take us home." Thel 'Vadam commanded as he and every other Elite on the Assault Carrier, was eager to see their home planet, Sanghelios safe and sound.

The _Shadow of Intent_ left Earth, to rejoin the remains of the Covenant Separatist fleet in space.

* * *

-Elsewhere in the Galaxy-

A feminine voice is speaking to a floating man in dark green armor.

"Chief? Chief? Can you hear me?"

The Master Chief, alive and awake, floated in zero gravity in a dark debris-filled hallway on board the _Dawn_.

"I thought I'd lost you, too." Cortana breathed a sigh of relief.

Chief turned on his helmet's lights and looked at a hole that was behind him in the hallway. He drifted to his floating Assault Rifle, and holstered it on the magnetic plates on his back. The Chief then began to drift towards hole at the end of the hallway.

"What happened?" The Spartan asked Cortana.

For once Cortana said three words that many people that wouldn't believe she would say.

"I'm not sure. When Halo fired, it shook itself to pieces. Did a number on the Ark. The Portal couldn't sustain itself. We made it through just as it collapsed."

The Chief reached the end of the hallway, which opened up into the vast empty space. The _Forward Unto Dawn_ looked as if it was cut half perfectly, it floated in a cloud of debris, with ends of it still literally red hot from the Slipspace cut.

"Well...some of us made it." Cortana then spoke with a little disappointment as she referred to the Arbiter who was nowhere to be found.

The _Dawn's_ remaining half continued to drift aimlessly in unknown space. The Chief decided to glide further inside the ship, finding a row of cryotubes, complete with a holotank to plug Cortana into.

"But you did it. Truth and the Covenant, the Flood..." The Chief plugged Cortana's data chip into the holotank and she appeared on the holotank with her glowing blue form. "It's finished."

The Master Chief turned off the flashlight on his helmet. The Chief placed his Assault Rifle in one of the rackets on the wall, so he could grab it incase anything happens.

"I'll drop a beacon. But it'll be a while before anyone finds us." Cortana said sadly.

The man climbed into the cryotube that was in-front of Cortana's holotank and next to the rack where he placed his Assault Rifle.

"Years, even." Which disheartened John since Cortana can only be active for seven years before she thought herself to death. The Master Chief began to think what he would do without Cortana in his life, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted, as the cryotube door began to close.

"I'll miss you." The A.I.'s words were filled with emotion that you would never thought a computer would ever have; sadness and care.

"Wake me when you need me." Master Chief spoke his final words to his last living friend on the half of the _Dawn_.

Cortana smiled and nodded her holographic head to John. The cryotube closed and sealed itself, which froze the Master Chief. Finally, the rest that Master Chief needed since he first encountered the Halos.

Cortana dropped the _Dawn's_ beacon, hoping the message will get found so she and Master Chief could one day be saved. Little did they know that a Forerunner AI, was seeking repentance after its destruction, had sent them into the deepest parts of space, towards an ancient being, of unimaginable power.

But that would wait, for a less dark and ancient evil began to descend into existence once more…

* * *

-2186 Citadel Calendar; SSV _Normandy SR2_ -

Just how long had it been since the Reapers began laying siege to Earth? Two days? Three? And how many dead? Millions? Tens of millions? Who could really tell or keep count of the casualties right now?

Commander Jane Shepard had been getting ready to head to the Citadel after picking up the Turain Primarch from Menae, with Garrus joining up once again, and discovering the last Prothean alive, but lady fate seemed to say neigh to her plans.

" _Commander, you have an incoming message from Admiral Hackett in the QEC room."_

EDI spoke over the intercom in her cabin up top of the _Normandy_ , it was something she had grown accustomed to, during her time when she was commanding her little 'Suicide Squad' back when the Collectors were taking colony after colony.

"Did he say what for?" Jane had made her way to the elevator down the next level. The Alliance had done heavy and extensive retrofits when she forked it over to her superiors, and then she was arrested for supposed crimes against the Citadel and Alliance, sans the Alpha Relay that she destroyed that bought them six months' extra time to prepare for the Reapers.

Lot a good that did…

She exited the elevator and had gone through the security checkpoint and was walking through the conference room.

" _No. He said that it was an urgent matter however."_

"Alright, I won't keep him waiting then."

She walked into the QEC room and the image of Admiral Hackett came through, _"Commander Shepard."_

The young commander saluted to her superior officer, "Admiral Hackett, sir. What was so urgent that you needed me to break off from heading to the War Summit?"

" _Our intelligence came across a distress signal, coming from somewhere deep in the Terminus Systems..."_

Hackett looked pretty anxious, though who really didn't look and feel that way, but this seemed more so than usual, _"…possibly in the far rim near the edge of the galaxy. It was bouncing between a few of our comm buoys before we managed to capture and isolate its contents, but I have feeling that we weren't the only ones that heard it, despite it being encrypted."_

Referring to the Reapers, to Cerberus, or anyone else that would've taken an interest in the message, "What's the message say?"

Hackett punched up something on a console off view and the audio played through the speakers _"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is UNSC FFG-001_ Forward Unto Dawn _, requesting immediate evac. Survivors aboard. Prioritization code: Victor Zero Five dash Three dash Sierra One One Seven."_

Jane was already intrigued and in deep thought. From the way it sounded, it was military going off of the code given, and being encrypted sounded a little fishy though, "How long has it been broadcasting?"

" _From what we can tell, about four years or so."_

Her eyes were wide in shock, "Four years? How did we not come across it before? It's been broadcasting since the Blitz happened, at the least."

" _It's possible the encryption kept it from being so widely transmitted, it could be a power failure from the point of origin, it could be that it was in a nebula and kept the transmission from being sent out…there could've been a number of things that kept it quiet until now, but I need you to investigate it, and quickly, before Ceberus or even the Reapers head to its location."_ He took in a deep breath, for his next set of news, _"Not only that, but we ran the name of the ship through our databases, and nothing came up."_

Now this set of news had her full attention. A ship that had no previous record, with a military encrypted distress signal, somewhere deep in the Terminus Systems practically on the edge of the galaxy, that's been awaiting rescue for four years.

This was her concern now.

"I'll head there and pick up the survivors immediately, sir."

" _I'll leave you to it, Hackett out."_

Jane walked out of the QEC room, and over towards the newly retrofitted War Room where numerous members of the crew were hard at work doing their jobs, she pulled up the galaxy map and wanted to know where exactly the transmission was coming from. For about six months or so, she had traversed the Terminus Systems while taking down the Collectors with Cerberus, and never once did she come across this distress signal at all, so which begged the question…

…why were they hearing it now?

"EDI, can you get me the distress signal's exact location?"

" _I can isolate the cluster; however, we will need to get closer to the signal in order for me to narrow it down further. One moment please…"_ The map of the galaxy sprung up on the holotable as it began tracking the signal through the FTL comm buoys, to which so far it was heading near the Perseus Veil, past the Far Rim and towards where the very edge of the galaxy ended. _"…this is where the distress signal originated. Once we draw closer, I can home in on the exact location of the ship."_

Jane nodded, "Alright, Joker?"

" _Already setting a course, Commander. It'll be a couple of days though, so better kick back and relax."_

"Right, I doubt it's going to go so smoothly." Like the last few times they went to a derelict ship in the past.

Jane headed back up to her cabin to get some shut eye, to which she really needed right now. As she silently fell asleep, she began dreaming again…the same one as before.

* * *

She found herself in a dark forest, with a little girl running away from her. She tried to call out to the child, but her voice was gone, her legs moved, but it felt as if she barely had any strength left in her. As she continued chasing the child, she found her surroundings changing, the forest was slowly becoming infested with pieces of, what looked like rotting biomass covering the ground and the trees.

The air was becoming polluted with spores, and green mist, but the forest began to disappear and large floating metallic spires began to rise from the ground, and purging the rotting biomass from the ground. The sky began to glow an eerie orange, and the mist started to clear, but she started choking with a violent cough.

The child stopped at the edge of a platform that overlooked a massive valley that was in flames. Jane ran up to the child with an outstretched hand, holding onto hope that she could reach her in time, but as she neared closer and closer, she heard the girl's voice…but something was wrong with it.

" **Jane…if you join me, you'll be at peace."**

She turned to Shepard only to reveal herself to the shocked and horrified look on her face.

" **You'll be at peace too."**

Her flesh was rotting in a disgusting brown, with her head now pushed off to the side. A trio of tentacle like claws now protruded from her left arm and shoulder, and pus and spores began to pour out of her twisted mouth.

" **You'll be at peace too."**

The girl, now wore a sickening smile, as her eye sockets were black with no life. As the sky began to glow brighter, a symbol started to take shape within the mist; a fully colored hexagon within a circle, connected by two line on both sides, and a bar resting atop the hexagon.

" **You'll be at peace too."**

Her voice now began to change into something otherworldly and demonic. Not filed with the arrogance of the Reapers, but with an air of insidiousness.

" **You'll be at peace too!"**

The girl's body then leapt out at her with the intent to kill her, but everything disappeared in a flash of orange when the symbol grew to consume everything…

* * *

Jane woke up in cold sweat, with fear in her eyes. Fear for her life; something she hadn't felt in so many years. She walked over to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face and saw that her hands were shaking, she hardly ever did that.

The girl that she saw on Earth had been killed by a Reaper Destroyer as the shuttle ferrying civilians was downed within seconds. She was haunted by that moment as she was helpless to say or do anything. She had a dream shortly after talking with the council on the Crucible and _trying_ to get them onboard with uniting to take Earth back, of the same girl, running away from here, hearing the sounds of Reapers chasing them down, and finally the girl bursting into flames just as she was about to reach her.

But now…whatever she felt then, was pure fear of the girl…

" _Commander, we are nearing the signal's source."_

"Thanks, EDI. Tell everyone to gear up, no telling what we'll find." And with her recent dream, well there was no telling what they'd fight…hopefully they wouldn't have to at all.

* * *

-The wreckage of the _Forward Unto Dawn_ -

The _Dawn_ had been floating aimlessly throughout space for three years, so far nothing interesting had happened, but now something shook the ship. Inside the cryo chamber, a sphere of blue light hovers above a holographic projector. The sphere disappears in a flash of blue, replaced by the figure of, Cortana, who appeared sitting on the holographic projector, letting out a small gasp as she did. When the severed Frigate had started rumbling, she knew something was wrong. She was distressed enough already, but when the ship shook she began to worry.

She slowly stood up, and after gazing around the room for a few seconds, she brought a holo-terminal. She quickly browsed through a status report as the ship continued to shake:

SHIP STATUS: CATASTROPHIC LOSS, ALL DECKS

SYSTEM STATUS: 6% SHIP SYSTEMS ONLINE

LAST CONTACT WITH UNSC: 4 YEARS, 1 MONTH, 7 DAYS

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

CREW CAPACITY: 782

CREW SURVIVING: 1

Cortana didn't see anything that could help her, so she brought a schematic of the _Dawn_. Several red rings appeared in multiple places throughout the ship, indicating several integrity failures. Cortana knew that, in this situation, it meant only one thing: they were being boarded. She ruled out the UNSC as a possibility, since they would have first tried to initiate contact. That left only one other known possibility, and she did not like it one bit.

She immediately brought up the cryo chamber's control interface, all the while becoming increasingly agitated. A schematic Cryo-Tube 16's single occupant appeared, alongside life signs and cryo-tube diagrams, as well as a single prompt:

REACTIVATE

Cortana hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should wake the occupant up or not. Seeing no other way, she accessed the prompt.

FOD=9939 DECK 4 / CRYO SUBDECK. ARRAY=93

CRYOGENIC SYSTEM SHUTDOWN . . .

STASIS CONVERSION IN PROCESS . . .

ACTIVE

Cortana sighed as she turned to observe Cryo-Tube 16. As air pumped into the tube and the ice covering the glass surface melted away, she remembered the advice given to her by the occupant all those years ago. It was time to follow it through.

"Wake up, Chief. I need you."

* * *

 _ **I'll stop it here for now, with the next chapter taking place aboard the**_ **Dawn** _ **and whatnot. Now, the story of Mass Effect 3 will continue on, along with Leviathan, Omega and Citadel DLC's. Some of the things that I've altered, mostly Halo's history will be shown and explained, such as the fates of Grey Team, NOBLE Team, Black Team, Dr. Halsey, Miranda Keyes, etc.**_

 _ **The Covenant remnants will also make an appearance, though they will be different than in canon, as well as the Didact and his Prometheans. But they all won't make an appearance until much later in the story. Currently I don't have any plans to include the Guardians, the Banished and**_ **The Spirit of Fire** _ **so don't expect an appearance from them.**_

 _ **So be sure to read, review, favorite and follow my stories. Also, be sure to drop by my YouTube channel:**_ **The League of Gaming Nerds** _ **, leave likes, comments and subscribe.**_

 _ **See you guys next time :)**_


	2. Chapter 1 - A New Recruit

" _Well, I'll say this. Commander Miranda Keyes is damn lucky to be alive after what she pulled back on the Ark, trying to stop Truth. She took a single shot from a Brute Spiker to her lower back, and severing her spinal cord, rendering her paralyzed from the waist down. Had we not have found Dr. Halsey along with the rest of the Spartan-II's and Spartan-III's at the Shield World, and her new breakthroughs in both Forerunner & nanotechnology, it's likely the Commander would be confined to the wheelchair for the rest of her life, but with the treatment she received, she's able to walk again. With this new way of utilizing nanotechnology, there's almost no limits to what this field can do, improving our own bodies, make augmentations easier to implement and enhance, curing diseases, our own armor systems, even helping us unlock Forerunner technologies lost us. Perhaps even a way for us to create more effective countermeasures and contingency plans to combat the Flood, should that thing ever come back to bite us in the ass."_

 _-Excerpt from Doctor Henry Glassman, on the possible capabilities of nanotechnology after UNSC Naval Commander Miranda Keyes regained her ability to walk_

* * *

Chapter 1 – New Recruit

The Master Chief groggily regained consciousness, as his vision blurring for a bit. At first, he couldn't tell where he was, but his confusion became evident when he slammed his gauntlets into the glass surface in front of him. But just as he was about to break free, a familiar voice echoed through the speakers of the cryo-tube.

"Chief! Easy. You've been out for a while." He turned to the pedestal where he placed Cortana before entering cryo.

"Where are we?"

"Were still adrift on the Dawn," Cortana replied.

"Why did you wake me?" the Chief asked.

She seemed to not hear his question as she said, _"Hang on. Bringing your systems online now."_ At the same time, his Heads-Up-Display appeared on the inside of his visor. It looked different from the HUD he had used before when he was first issued the Mark VI armor. Cortana seemed to notice his confusion. _"I rewrote your suit's firmware while you were out, along with giving it an exterior makeover. But that's not all, I was able to do with the all the time I had to myself."_

"You've been busy," John chuckled.

 _"Activating the ship's gravity generators."_

As she said that, the debris floating around the cryo bay fell to the deck as the Frigate's gravity was restored. Among the debris, the Chief noted, was an M6D Magnum. He made a mental note to grab the pistol and the Assault Rifle he had stored in the cryo bay before he was put on ice.

 _"Chief, look up. You need to pull the manual release."_ Cortana said.

As he looked up, he saw a lever right above his head. He reached up, pulled it down, and with his hands pushed the casket open. The Chief climbed out of the tube, grabbed the MA5C Assault Rifle stored beside him, checked the rifle, and walked up to Cortana's holo-tank.

 _"Seems like old times."_ she chuckled.

John smiled behind his visor. "Ready to get back to work?"

Cortana crossed her arms and replied, _"I thought you'd never ask."_ That ever-present smile on her face when it was time for them to do their thing.

Her hologram disappeared as the Chief pulled out the data crystal containing her. He inserted the chip into his neural interface, the familiar cool mercury feeling filling his mind as Cortana integrated herself with the modified MJOLNIR Mk-VI/C MOD armor suit.

He walked over to the Magnum, picked it up, made sure it was loaded. However, he noticed that there was some engraved writing on it; there were two lines on it, one older than the other. _'Jacob Keyes'_ was the older engraving, while the second one read _'Miranda Keyes'_. He remembered now, that this was the very same firearm that the Captain had given to him back when they first discovered Halo. Shortly after his subsequent rescue and return to Alpha Base, the Chief had returned the weapon back to Keyes and lost when the Flood attacked, only to discover it in the containment facility along with the deadly parasite. After returning back to UNSC space and informing Miranda of what occurred, she too had her name engraved on the weapon, carrying it with her all throughout their missions on Delta Halo, retrieving it once again from the armory in High Charity, and then Earth and the Ark. She most likely lost it when she was shot in the back by Truth and crippling her, only to return to the _Shadow of Intent_ for treatment. He would return the weapon back to her, when they were in UNSC space once again, so he holstered the weapon on his right thigh, letting the magnetic clamps do their job of holding it. Deciding to bring up what exactly Cortana had done to his suit, and just how long it had been since he went into cryo, "How long was I out?"

" _Four years, one month, seven days."_

The Master Chief was astonished. They've been out here for literally four years? "Somebody should have found us by now. What all exactly did you to my armor?"

" _Well, let's see, given with four years of doing nothing but modifying this piece of art, quite a bit. I was able to reduce the weight of the armor by about 6.72%. Increased the suit's strength by 14.35%. Increased the Energy Shield capacity by 45.62% and reduced the recharge time by 32.98%. Increased the motion trackers range from 25 to 40 meters. Increased the weapon capacity for an additional primary and secondary weapon. Improved the VISR with multiple additional fields of visions with ultraviolet and thermal vision."_ She took a digital equivalent of a breath of what you could call a breath.

" _I also was able to use some of the old Mark V prototype Armor Mods, which means your Armor Lock now produces an impenetrable Energy Shield around your armor, but you won't be able to move. A Hologram projector that lasts for about ten seconds, and the Dropshield dispenser. And I was even able to adapt the Elite's Type-3 Camouflage units to the armor."_

The Chief had to hand it to Cortana, she certainly did a fine job, "Nice work." He complemented.

" _Oh, I'm not even done with the last two things on the list of modifications I've done."_ From the way she talked, it was as if she couldn't be any prouder of herself. _"I was able to permanently install a prototype M805X Thruster Pack into the armor itself for all around usage."_

"How so?" 'All around usage' sounded too good to be true, as this would make him efficient in maneuvering in the battlefield during firefights.

" _Well, they…huh, interesting."_ She stopped mid-sentence as if something just came up, which it did so.

"Something wrong?"

" _Oh, that's cute…"_ the AI muttered to herself more than anything, _"…sorry, someone was trying to get access into what's left of the Dawn's systems, but I managed to keep them out."_

"Covenant?" Even though he the war was over, he wasn't too keen on the idea of some of the Covenant species to board the ship. He still had protocol to adhere to and follow, despite Earth's location already known and their technology basically cast aside, seen as being 'inferior' to themselves and their 'Gods'. They weren't wrong of course, but UNSC tech still had some things here and there over Covenant tech.

" _Oh, I'd know if it were the Covenant, and whoever it is, they aren't. The Covenant would've put up a better job of getting into our systems."_

So, the people who boarded their ship weren't Covenant. That tid bit of knowledge brought the Chief _some_ comfort. "So who is it? The Insurrection?" The enemy he and the rest of his fellow Spartan-II's had been originally trained to handle and deal with, before the outbreak of the Human-Covenant War. Even during it, the Insurrectionists had grown bolder in sabotaging their war efforts to defend Earth and Humanity as a whole, stealing weapons, raiding supply shipments, and hijacking any ships they could get their hands on. While the vast majority of them felt that they weren't involved with the war, some of them wisely aided them in the Outer Colonies, something that wasn't very common, and even then, their support was limited with some begrudging emotions due to the fate of inevitable extinction if they didn't.

" _Unknown. An AI for certain, but nothing I can't handle."_

An AI of unknown origin? Cortana was a third-generation 'Smart' AI, and there was nothing that she had encountered that was another AI, save for Guilty Spark and the Covenant AI from _Ascendant Justice_ , which the latter was hardly a problem, but he wasn't aware of any other type of AI that existed, otherwise she would know. "Is it advanced?"

" _Hardly, it's better than a standard 'Dumb' AI, but it's not even remotely close to me or even first-generation 'Smart' AI's, or the advanced 'Dumb' AI's that run cities and stations. I could just trap it within its own repeating line of coding and erase it, layer by layer as it literally would dig its own grave trying to get out. But it hasn't displayed anything resembling hostile intent, it's…more curious than anything else."_ She had never encountered an AI like this, it certainly was interesting as it had two separate lines of AI coding was interwoven and put together to make one more efficient, as she noticed one was 'very' primitive, as another was ' _extremely'_ primitive, more so than the other, however, the 'very' primitive coding was rather small as opposed to the other _. "From what I've gathered here, it certainly has a few moves, but it leaves itself too open. Almost like how I prefer to go through every backdoor and window people don't see, this AI seems to prefer open warfare like a soldier on the battlefield without any backup, but it does have a few tricks to watch its back. But like I said before, it's no problem for me."_

That answered that question for the Chief. He could count on Cortana do eliminate the unknown AI should it turn hostile. "Is there a boarding party?" Knowing what exactly what was coming after them would be nice to know, he could combat whatever it was a lot easier.

Cortana was already patched into the camera feeds; six individuals and judging by the bioscans she got off them, at least one was fully synthetic, three were unknown aliens, and two of them were human, of all the things… _"Well~ you see…"_

He could already tell where this was going.

* * *

-The Normandy-

"It's creepy as hell." Joker giving his usual color commentary on their missions, though he wasn't particularly wrong. Some of the crew had gathered near windows on their respective decks while others viewed it through the ship's exterior cameras, were getting the same vibe from the derelict.

As it turned out, the nebula that they were heading into had prevented the signal from getting out. The nebula was a dark purple that slowly began to turn black as it gave the illusion of a black hole. They were already getting closer to the edge of the galaxy, heading into dark space, with the stars disappearing.

Jane looked at the ship from the bridge, and with the damn thing cut in half, she could only wonder if perhaps Sovereign had perhaps come across the ship before he indoctrinated Saren, "Other than the obvious, EDI, what can you tell me about our derelict here?"

EDI had settled into the co-pilot's chair after acquiring Eva's body and overriding her programming, and had grown accustomed to people coming to talk to her new body. She was already outfitted in a uniform that Eva had once used, and grabbed an N7 Hurricane along with an M-5 Phalanx. "The ship appears to have been cut in half, most likely due to a large energy-based weapon of sorts, judging from the micro-trances of radiation from the edge of the ship where it has been cut."

"So that leaves out Sovereign or the Collectors." Jane whispered more or less to herself. EDI looked up to Jane with what would be considered an inquisitive look as far as a learning synthetic could be considered. "Pardon?"

"Oh, nothing, just thinking aloud a bit to myself."

"Very well, I suppose I will to have to do this myself as well." EDI was still learning the quirks on understanding organics, she continued to work on their scans of the derelict. "There appears to be a no traces of Eezo from what appears to be the engines."

Jane and a few other crewmembers were shocked, with Joker voicing their own confusion, "Wait, what?! EDI check your sensors again, that's gotta be a mistake. There's no way that ship can fly without Eezo."

EDI looked to Joker with an accusatory glance, not the best thing to say to her as he realized, "My sensors are optimizing at full capacity, Joker. I have already run scans as far as I can get three times now since the initial scan. The signal appeared to have finally broadcasted outside the nebula as the derelict approached it, but then it began to dive deeper into the nebula itself, as if another force pulled on it momentarily. Enough to bring it in closer, however the derelict is moving at an incredibly slow pace."

Jane was trying to make sense of what EDI told her, with how the derelict was drifting through the edge of the nebula, but then suddenly pulled back into it with no rhyme or reason, but then she was confused by EDI's scans comment. "Wait, EDI, what do you mean by 'as far as I can get'?"

"I have attempted to try and delve further via a wireless search system; however, I have been unable to do so. I have been blocked by numerous security firewalls and programs onboard, any of my further attempts have been met with heavy resistance. I can tell you that there is minimal power and there is an opening for the _Normandy_ to land inside."

Jane nodded, "Then that's our point of entry. Joker, set us down there. EDI, see if you can try to get into the systems and give us more info on this ship, or rather what's left of it." EDI got up from her seat as the rest of the squad came to the airlock, ready for their little excursion. Jane already had a plan formulated in her head, "Alright everyone, we've got an unknown derelict with possible survivors onboard. Our first objective is to find any survivors and extract them quickly to the _Normandy_ before the Reapers or Cerberus one come across this wreck, if we can get some data on the ship with how it operates, the method of FTL, etc. that's our secondary. It's pretty big, so I want us in squads of two; Javik, you're with me, if you can do your thing to 'see' who was onboard and give us some light about this thing, that'd be good."

Javik, the last Prothean was the most recent addition to their crew, and he was eager for battle against the Reapers, but he wasn't the best team player, but he knew how to follow orders in the battlefield, and he respected her more so than anyone else on the ship. Plus, his natural sensory abilities were unlike any other species in the galaxy. "Understood, Commander." He had his Particle Rifle on hand, and truth be told, it was the only weapon he ever really needed, given his own Biotic abilities were on par, nay some would say superior to Asari like Samara or Benezia, in some instances.

Jane, nodded in response. She turned to the rest of her squad, "Garrus & James will be the second squad, while Liara and EDI will be squad three." Everyone save for Javik and EDI put their helmets on as the airlock began the depressurization sequence. EDI not needing one for being a synthetic, Javik on the other hand, being an organic with a set of lungs being able to hold air for at least ten hours, so he didn't really need to worry about the lack of breathable air.

The _Normandy_ had set down inside one of the openings of the derelict, and the airlock down opening up for the squads to exit and begin their search with their mag-boots activated. As soon as they set their feet down, they could see numerous cargo crates, and vehicles strapped down to the floor with some debris floating around. Jane looked at each of the vehicle with some resembling old 21st century vehicles of military humvee's with large guns and missile launchers attached on the rear, while others looked to be troop transporters. Some others were four-wheelers with what appeared to be grenade launchers attached to the front of them, and then there were the tanks with the main gun on the rear of the vehicle.

In short, the derelict was a military vessel.

Jane could tell that each of the weapons on the vehicles could easily kill a Reaper Brute with ease, and could keep killing more of them like nothing. She had to wonder who had built them? Why did they build them this big? Who exactly were these people fighting against? Even Krogan would be gunned down faster than a Salarian could think by these weapons. Hopefully she'd get some answers here, as she and the squads began to look for an entrance to the rest of the ship, Specialist Traynor piped up over the comms with some interesting news, _"Commander, while EDI was scanning the ship, I found that the signal was being broadcasted widely with an advanced military encryption interwoven throughout the entirety of the message. Not only that, but as we were passing by the derelict, I noticed on one of the cameras that the name of the ship was printed in big white letters on the side of it, just below would I think is the bridge. And you won't believe me on the language, it reads_ UNSC Forward Unto Dawn _in english."_

The tell-tell signs of the squad being shocked was obvious. They had never seen a ship that didn't use Eezo with this type of design, and they hadn't seen vehicles of such an archaic, and yet simultaneously advanced design. "So, the people that built this ship spoke English? The Alliance didn't build anything like this, and I doubt Cerberus cooked this up, otherwise we would've seen the obvious signs of their own designs."

" _I can only guess at a 'yes' until we know more. I'll send a message to Admiral Hackett once we're finished up here, and so far, there haven't been any signs of Reaper or Cerberus ship entering the nebula. I think we're way out of the way of civilization. We got lucky today, Commander."_

"Good to hear Traynor, keep me posted on anything that comes up."

The squads came across an entrance that lead deeper into the derelict, and with arrows showing directions to certain parts of the ship; 'Armory', 'Cryo-bay', 'Engineering' and 'Observation Deck'.

How very, and yet oddly convenient for them.

"Well, sure was nice of them to paint directions on the floor." Jane remarked. Javik shook his head, "Having directions to key areas of a ship is a poor decision; allowing possible enemies to quickly overtake the vessel in the event of boarding action."

James looked at it another way, "Yeah, but this makes our job of sweeping the place easier, and I so wanna look at their guns. I mean, who knows what they've got locked up here." Garrus hummed in thought, "I wonder if they have any snipers onboard, see if they can compare to our own."

Liara patted Garrus on the back, "I'm sure you'll get the chance, but I think there are some people here that may need our help."

"Squad two, I want you two to head up to the cryo-bay; check if the survivors are there. Squad three will head to engineering and up the observation deck; see if you can pull any data from the engines and navigation; maybe we can get an idea who made this ship and where it came from. Squad one will head to the armory; check out the weapon lockers and see if we can use anything for firefights in the future. Keep in radio contact, and inform me if you've found something, we'll meet back up here in an hour, and Specialist Traynor will message Hackett. If you run into trouble pull up everyone on the comms. Let's move, people."

The two-man squads split up and made their way to their objectives, unaware of shimmer in the background following one of the squads…

* * *

-EDI & Liara-

The _Normandy_ AI and the good doctor were making their way to engineering first for data on the engines and power supply, then they would make their way to the observation deck for navigation data if any were; from there, they would head back to the _Normandy_. Liara's inner scientist was already cranking the gears in her head with many questions. Who built the ship? Why was it designed this way? What was the classification? How did it get to such a remote part of the galaxy? And how did it get cut in half? "EDI, have you been able to dive any further into the ships systems?"

EDI had been trying to get in further now that she was inside the ship, and her Omni-tool was flaring with life, "I have been attempting to bypass the security systems and firewall protocols, since we have boarded the derelict. However, I have had zero success with all fifteen attempts."

Liara cocked an eyebrow, "Wait, you've already tried it fifteen more times?" She knew that EDI had superior cyberwarfare and infiltration suites tailored to go up against superior systems such as the Collectors and the Reapers, but to hear that she was getting nowhere was bit disconcerting.

"Yes, it is… annoying to say the least." A small look of frustration appeared for a bit before fading away, "I have been actively pinging the systems for some time now, however I have been pushed out with every attempt."

Liara had seen the small look that EDI had on her synthetic body, she had started learning more so on organic emotions and feeling ever since she 'commandeered' Dr. Eva's body, and with Jane's aid, she had begun learning at a rather fast pace. They arrived at the door leading into engineering, as it was wide open, "We may end up getting a look at the ship's engines now. Maybe you'll get a better chance of entering the systems here, even restoring power if it's possible." She pulled Jane up on the comms, "Shepard, we've made our way to engineering, we'll see if we can get the power back up if we can, and download what data we can."

" _Good to hear, Javik and I are rounding the corner to the armory. We'll let you know if we've got anything worth using. James, Garrus, how about you guys?"_

Garrus came up over the comms first and the with James following the Turian up next, " _The elevators were out, so we're having to take the hard way up to cryo."_

" _Aw come one, Vakarian, you know you love the exercise."_

" _I'm sure_ you _do, though, will you love it if I happen to fall and I hit you and we both go tumbling down to the bottom of the shaft?"_

"… _alrighty then. Guess you have no love for getting a gun show, to give the ladies then."_

" _That's what the scars are for, Vega."_

Liara chuckled a bit, "Alright let's see what makes this place tick." Just as Liara was about to step through the doorway, it shut automatically before she could put her foot in the door.

"What?" Her face scrunched up in confusion as she was not expecting to face a door slamming in her face. She pulled up her Omni-tool as she tried to bypass the lock, but it sparked blue and her arm was singed with a bit of pain, "Ow!"

EDI looked over to Liara as she held her hand for bit, before shaking it, "What happened?"

"The door shut on me, just as I was about to walk in. I tried to run a bypass program on the panel, but my Omni-tool shocked me. I don't know how that happened."

EDI held Liara's arm as she was already running through the simulations as to what could have happened. She had been compiling the information that she had gathered so far, and came to one only conclusion. "I believe the only explanation behind the advanced security measures, and your Omni-tool shocking you, would be a—" EDI was suddenly kicked out of Eva's body, and it shut down, making Liara paniced. "EDI, what's—" Then her vision went black as she felt something hit her in the back of her head, effectively knocking her out.

* * *

-Garrus & James-

"Ugh, finally. I hate ladders. Really wish we had Tali here." Garrus opened up the hatch that lead up to the cryo-bay, with James coming up behind him, "Hey, maybe the girls can get the elevators back up and running."

"That would make life a lot easier. Come on, we shouldn't be too far from the cryo-bay." Garrus was armed with a Phaeston, while he had a Krysae Sniper rifle holstered on his back, knowing that shotguns weren't his forte, while James had an N7 Typhoon and an M-27 Scimitar, which was already in his hands, just for close encounters. They came to a rounded room, with a holographic schematic of the wrecked ship glowing yellow and numerous warning signs flashing across several locations, most likely showing power loss, zero atmosphere pressure, failing systems, etc.

James moved in first with Garrus behind him as they started walking across the walkway littered with snow and ice build-up, growing as they entered the cryo chamber. They took notice of the one pod opened up and footprints leading out to the rest of the ship, Garrus rang up the comms, "Well, it looks like we've only got one survivor here, Shepard. But no sign of them, they may have already gotten to another part of the ship, and we haven't seen them yet."

" _Alright, head back to the hangar, Javik and I found a lot of weapons here, we might be able to use them, but they're all locked up tight in the lockers and crates."_

" _If the weapons still function, then we should take them."_

"We'll head down there to help you out, maybe come across our survivor, if we're lucky." Garrus said as he and James made their way back the way they came up. But the emergency hatch suddenly locked itself, with James voicing the obvious, "What the hell?"

Garrus tried to pull Jane back up in the comms, "Jane? Commander, we just got locked up here, you copy?" But static was all that came through.

James readied his Scimitar if things got dicey, "What the hell is going in this ship?"

He could've sworn he heard a small feminine voice laugh a little down the hallway leading back to cryo…

"What the hell indeed."

* * *

-Jane & Javik-

The commander and Javik walked into the armory, and saw that everything was locked up tighter than the Citadel archives. Javik kept his Particle Rifle out, but eased up a bit, while Jane holstered her N7 Valkyrie with the N7 Crusader and Valiant, her more preferred class of weapon.

She looked at the weapons through the metallic grates barring access to the weapons. They looked similar to the old 21st century weapons like the M4, or the AK-47, but they looked far more durable, as if she could beat several Krogan to death and it would still keep working, while her own weapon could beat one to a pulp, but then it would break up and be nothing but a bunch of scrap.

"Commander, these lockers are different from the architecture from rest of the ship." She looked to see Javik was over in another area of the armory with a completely different look. Purple, mixed with pink, blue, silver and green, the containers looked more like Asari style architecture, more so than anything else here. "Now why the hell do they have a completely different set of weapons on here? What they've got here already would be enough to kill a whole platoon of Reapers ground troops."

"An interesting question…" Javik kneeled down, and started to feel the room and 'see' the past of the ship and its crew. "There were humans…but their biology is slightly different than your own commander."

Whatever notion that said humans didn't build this ship, was all but forgotten. She let Javik continue as he concentrated on the ship's marker, "There was another species here as well, one I do not know."

Jane arched an eyebrow, "A species you don't know? You sure the human parts aren't muddying up things for you?"

"I know what humans are…" The Prothean deadpanned, "…but this species is new to me. They are…massive, larger than a Krogan, and very proud like Turians, but they are all gone…wait!" His face was now a mix of fear and confusion, "There was something else here, a…creature, its marker is ancient, unstable and violent, it is a confusing and terrifying, it attempted to escape its death, consuming untold numbers it-AGGH!" Jane grabbed Javik and brought him back up from the floor, his breath was a little labored and he looked fatigued from the ordeal.

"Commander, we should leave, now."

"Alright…" She brought a hand to her earpiece, "…alright everyone, we're leaving, Traynor, see if you can broadcast a message throughout the ship for survivors to hear and let's get out of here if they come our way. Squad two, head back to the Normandy, same for you squad three."

" _Copy that, Sheaprd."_ Garrus came up over the comms, however, there was no response from either EDI or Liara, until EDI came up over static, _"Com—nder, -iara and – were -ushed, surv-vors are poss—ly hostile."_

That last part she understood, they were about to head back out to head to engineering, but she and her Prothean partner stopped when they heard the familiar sound of an assault rifle cocked and ready to unload behind them, and a deep, gravelly voice that held a no nonsense and emotionless manner, "Drop your weapons, turn around and identify yourselves, now."

At first, she wanted to swing around and point her own weapon at the voice's source, but she thought twice when she felt the barrel of the gun right on her skull, and then came the second warning, "Now."

Javik threw in his own two cents worth, "Commander. I think it is best if we comply with the survivor." He dropped the Particle Rifle on the ground and kicked it away. Having been born in a time when your kind was being hunted to extinction taught one how to survive should the occasion call for it, and this certainly called for it.

She begrudgingly agreed with him, she disarmed herself and kicked the weapons away. If worst came to worst, they could always use their biotics, but then again, she had no idea what their new _friend_ was capable of. As they turned around, they were met with the barrel of a grey gun that was long as one of their own, but it was much bigger, at least the size of an M-99 Saber. But the real show was the one holding the weapon.

He was huge, at least seven feet tall in large, bulky, olive green power armor. It appeared to give him maximum coverage and mobility and it looked like he could ram a Brute head on and throw it over his shoulder like a football player. The suit that he wore was pitch black, and held other smaller pieces of armor where he needed to be flexible, and his visor was a hexagonal pattern in gold. Judging from how bulky he looked, the armor must have weighed a lot, and he should have made footsteps as he entered the armory and circled around them to force them to discard their own weapons. And yet, he didn't make a sound, nor was he even seen. Either he was part cat and part whatever, or he knew how to maneuver around, and he had to have had something like a Tactical Cloak like what her old friend Kasumi used.

She was leaning towards the latter.

But what really intrigue her was how he, it, was standing. He wasn't moving an inch, he didn't even look like they were breathing. The way he held the rifle was almost mechanical like a Geth would hold it, and he had his sights trained her, guessing or knowing that she was the one in charge of the squads. Now she probably had an idea what happened to EDI & Liara over at the door to engineering.

He spoke again, most likely giving the third and last warning, "Identify yourselves." The sound of what was most likely the safety taken off was a giveaway.

Well, might as well get it over with Jane though, "I'm Commander Jane Shepard, Alliance military." She gestured over to her partner, "This is Javik. So~ who are you if you don't mind me asking?" The old Shepard charm would work if anything else, considering she talked Saren to death and he ended up shooting his own head off years ago.

But that didn't have the intended effect she hoped, "What is the Alliance military?" Jane frowned that her natural charm had zero effect, well, guess she would have to play along with him.

"The Systems Alliance, the Human military…we—"

"What happened to the UNSC? Are you with the Insurrection…?" He looked over to Javik, "The Covenant…?" The last set of words seemed to make the air around him become 'trigger-happy' if one could say, he was on edge, and he looked like he was more than willing to pull the trigger and end their lives if they gave the wrong answer.

Shepard and Javik looked at each other with confusion. Neither of them had ever heard of what he just said, prompting Jane to ask her own set of questions in response, "We've never heard of the UNSC or the Insurrection. And what's the Covenant? You don't sound like you're a big fan of…whoever they are."

The big green metal 'dude' was silent for what seemed like several minutes, but it was just a few seconds though, "What year is it?"

Now that really put them off, Javik opted to answer next, "The year is 2187…" He could tell from the green armored beings stance and given how tense he looked, he was not a fan of him. The commander was better at talking with people, as he was told he was 'blunter than a Geth' and 'brutal' as this cycle called him.

This answer seemed to satisfy him, as he lowered his weapon a couple of inches, which Jane took as a sign of relaxing, "We…caught your distress signal, and we're here to help." Jane just huffed in a bit of annoyance, though she knew she shouldn't. Guess her old habits from being in charge of a suicide squad were hard to die, "Look, can we get a name, race, etc. and what was with asking the year?"

Now, sometimes Jane could tell how people were looking at her, even with a mask on, but she could tell that behind that golden visor, he was peering right into her soul. Well, if she were the more religious type per say. He was studying her, seeing if he could throw her a bone, perhaps tempting fate maybe or something?

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117; Human; UNSC Navy." He lowered his weapon thinking that they weren't a threat anymore, but he still looked tense and ready to defend himself if necessary.

"That sounds more like a rank than a name." A little annoyed, "You do have a name, right?"

"That's classified." He said it as if that was all she was going to get. If she were an anime character, she'd have a tick mark growing on her head. She opened her mouth to say something else, but he pretty much shut her up with his next sentence, "Clandestine information will remain classified."

Well, she had feeling he wouldn't be one to talk so easily. But, "You wouldn't happen to have 'engaged' a certain human-like mech and an Asari?" Considering that EDI warned her that they were ambushed.

"The synthetic android, and alien lifeform attempted to gain access to engineering. It is in violation of UNSC protocol. They weren't a threat, so I disabled them temporarily. The synthetic was powered down, and the alien knocked unconscious." So he managed to take both Liara and EDI down without killing them? That was pretty good of him, but then again, she had no idea what he was capable of. But his wording was what caught her attention, calling Liara an 'alien lifeform'.

"Thanks, for not killing them." A bit of sarcasm laced, "But as much as I would love to continue this conversation, is there any chance, that oh… I don't know… do it on my _working_ ship? You know, with food, comfy military beds, oxygen, and people to socialize with?" She might have been pushing it a bit with big green, but she wanted to make sure the rest of her squad was alright after getting static from Garrus  & James, not knowing if they were alright.

The 'Master Chief' as he called himself, was still and devoid of emotion, and he stared them down, seeing if she would try to do something, making plans, from 'A' to 'B' all the way to fucking 'Z'.

"I could use a soldier like you, against the Reapers."

Javik could see that despite how still the human appeared to be, he wasn't familiar with the Reapers, more confused if one could say. "What are the Reapers?" His highly-controlled pheromones told him.

"Ok, should've seen that one coming." Shepard murmured to herself, though Javik picked it up, "Obviously given how he has more than likely been stuck in a refrigerator for four years, he is unaware of the Reapers, Commander."

"Thank you, Javik." She annunciated with annoyance, "Anyways, the Reapers are—"

"You fight for humanity?"

That was an odd question, to say the least. Why wouldn't anyone fight for their own race? What moral code did he follow? Were they any different from her own? "I do, I'm currently running around the galaxy uniting everyone to fight them. We—"

"After the Reaper threat has been dealt with, can you bring me to UNSC space?"

The response was sudden, and she already had a good feeling about this guy. He didn't expect him to join her so suddenly, but then again…with a working ship practically right next to him, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "If you can point out the direction to us, then yeah, I'll fly you there myself if I have to, you have my word."

"Commander Shepard, there are weapons, munitions and equipment that we can use. I would advise taking them with us." He obviously wasn't comfortable with using their weapons, and he was more trusting in his own equipment.

Jane sighed, "Well alrighty then I'll get the horn on the _Normandy_ and have Cortez help clear some pace around for your stuff. You got a manifest of what you need?"

The armored man just nodded, "Affirmative, ma'am. Your communications should be restored now. Other parts of the ship will be locked down, as per UNSC protocol. No one is to enter them." He walked back further into the armory, getting things ready for the move, while Shepard was miffed what sounded like an order/threat if she had to put it in some way. Either way, she got a new crewmember who was going to help her kill the Reapers, and a new enigma that surrounded him.

Over the next hour, after getting EDI settled back into Eva's body, and Liara nursing her sore head which luckily didn't have a concussion, just a little disoriented when she woke up, the crew began helping the Chief move crates of weapons, ammo and equipment to the _Normandy_ 's shuttle bay next to their own armory.

* * *

-The Chief-

" _I know that you aren't a fan of getting attention, but you could just ignore them and head to the ship."_ The AI chimed, the Chief overlooked the crew bringing the cargo onto the ship, and every so often some of them would glance at him, not-so-subtly.

"These are UNSC assets, and Covenant weapons technology that we cannot be allowed into potential enemy hands." If anyone knew better on following protocol, it was Cortana, given she was programmed with every dirty trick ONI taught her, and every protocol and rule put into her digital head. And given how these people seemed so buddy-buddy with aliens, and they were an unknown faction with the only known motive being killing Reapers, he wasn't going to give anything away, nor did he really trust them all that much.

But their commander, Shepard, she didn't seem like the deceiving type, and thus a little trust could be done, but he would be the judge of that, no doubt already preparing for the conversation she was going to have with him later.

" _True, and this isn't the UNSC. You know…given how you've offered to help fight these 'Reapers', which by the way are probably their version of the Covenant…have you given any afterthought to what might happen if we do return to UNSC space and HIGHCOM is informed of what's happening?"_

"I know. We'll cross that bridge when we make our way there." He realized that he may have ended up bending, or even breaking some protocols by temporarily joining with Shepard, but he didn't have much of a choice. Either to stay and wait another possible four years in cryo, or take her helping hand.

"We don't have any choice." If push came to shove, he'd eliminate the crew and have Cortana interface with the ship starting with disabling the other AI.

He woke up to see that they were being boarded by not just humans, but aliens as well. Humanoid in form. Not Covenant. And too many variables. Then there was commander Jane Shepard. She spoke his language, and the alien's as well. She looked a lot like Linda, on the outside, but she carried herself with an authoritive command and purpose.

"What can you tell me about the Systems Alliance? Have you heard of it before?"

" _Diving straight in then, huh? Well I can tell you I haven't heard of it, and neither has the UNSC or ONI. Which would also mean the Covenant never came across them either. They sound like a prominent organization given how they're composed of humans, and they're working with aliens. Either they're lying about not knowing the UNSC or anything concerning our neck of the woods, or…"_ Was that curiosity? Or anticipation for his own reaction? _"…or they somehow evolved outside our evolutionary trees."_

"You don't think that…"

" _That the Forerunners had something to do with it? The truth is, I honestly have no idea."_ She had already begun compiling info for comparing their own humanity against Shepard's humanity. The odds of two human races evolving simultaneously, but ending up with different dates and technologies, were so small that a number couldn't represent it. Unless they came across some piece of info that explained it, she would keep her theories to herself until she could come to a conclusion.

The Chief was frustrated a bit with the lack of answers, but he knew he shouldn't be. Whatever answers he was looking for, he would just have to wait until he found them. He turned his attention to something else, "What all exactly did we have aboard the _Dawn_?"

" _Ah, well, before we left Earth with the Elites, Johnson and the Arbiter made sure to take a heavy inventory stock on weapons, ammo, equipment, even so much as procuring a printer fabricator unit for the ammo on our weapons and some Covenant weapons, and the Arbiter brought a mobile recharging station for some of the battery powered weapons and equipment."_ Cortana pulled up the manifest of what all was brought to the ship before the Battle of the Ark, as it showed up on his HUD.

 _UNSC Weapons –_

 _MA5C Assault Rifles_

 _BR55HB Battle Rifles_

 _M6G Magnums_

 _M7 Submachine Guns_

 _M392 DMR's_

 _SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifles_

 _M90 Shotguns_

 _M6 Spartan Lasers_

 _M41 SPNKr Rocket Launchers_

 _AIE-486H Chainguns_

 _M247H Machine Guns_

 _M7057 Flamethrowers_

 _M319 Grenade Launchers_

 _LAU-65D/SGM Missile Pods_

 _M9 Frag Grenades_

 _M8 Flashbang Grenades_

 _M12 Smoke Grenades_

Overall, a good arsenal of what they had left over, given the _Dawn_ was the UNSC command ship during the battle. There were also numerous weapon attachments that he could use for some of them, laser sights, extended clips, interchangeable barrels, underslung shotguns and grenade launchers, etc. As for the Covenant weapons, the Arbiter had procured everything he could get his hands on, even stealing some of the Brutes weapons.

 _Covenant Separatist Weapons –_

 _Type-25 Plasma Pistols_

 _Type-52 Maulers_

 _Type-25 Plasma Rifles_

 _Type-25 Brute Plasma Rifles_

 _Type-50 Beam Rifles_

 _Type-51 Plasma Repeaters_

 _Type-52 Focus Rifles_

 _Type-25 Spikers_

 _Type-31 Needle Rifles_

 _Type-33 Needlers_

 _Type-51 Carbines_

 _Type-1 Energy Swords_

 _Type-2 Gravity Hammers_

 _Type-1 Plasma Grenades_

 _Type-2 Spike Grenades_

 _Type-3 Firebombs_

 _Type-25 Brute Shot_

 _Type-33 Fuel Rod Guns_

 _Type-50 Concussion Rifles_

 _Type-52 Plasma Launchers_

 _Type-52 Plasma Cannons_

The Arbiter didn't really know the meaning of overkill, as it seemed. But then again, he _really_ hated Truth and the Covenant after what happened to his race, their alliance was more circumstantial, less than a true one. The Chief at first hated him, and wanted nothing to do with the Elite, but as he fought side-by-side with him, he came to respect him and trusted him to watch his back, as well as the other two Elites that accompanied them in the final days of the war on Earth and the Ark. He supposed he could call them a friend, he guessed, but he wasn't interested in making anymore. Three was enough for him to last a lifetime.

There was also the equipment that they procured, even a few things a cross the Ark that they took for themselves. But they weren't able to get any Sentinel Beams, given how they turned on them when he killed Guilty Spark on Halo.

 _Equipment –_

 _Z-4190 Bubble Shield Units_

 _Power Drain Units_

 _Portable Gravity Lift Units_

 _TR/9 Trip Mine Units_

 _Regenerator Units_

 _Flare Units_

 _Deployable Cover Units_

 _Radar Jammer Units_

 _Forerunner Automated Turrets_

 _Invincibility Units_

 _Overshield Units_

 _Cloaking Units_

They saved his life, and the life of many Marines and UNSC troops on many close calls on Earth and the Ark. They would undoubtedly save his life again if he found himself in future similar reasons, adding this with his new armor modifications, he doubted he would have trouble as much as before. Though one of the last things he saw on the list worried him, "Cortana, the automated turrets, will they…?"

" _Turn on us, like they did on Halo? No, I'm currently running up a program to target anything that isn't us or our new friends, but it will take some time implement it into all of them, while scrubbing away Spark's programming."_ As the Chief and the Arbiter worked their way up to the Control Room, they came across several of the auto turrets in 'rest' mode, and set them up for a perimeter to deal with the Flood. After destroying Spark and hauling ass back to the _Dawn_ , the turrets fired on them as they exited the Control Room and almost got them killed with the Sentinels overlaying their fire with the turrets.

The Chief had procured a few other things, such as weapons cleaning kit and combat-grade medical kits, as he doubted they had the same thing for what the UNSC used. As the last of the crates were loaded onto the _Normandy_ , he saw a blip on his motion tracker moving towards him and he looked up to see the commander walking towards him, oddly enough, "Hey, Chief. You don't mind if I call you that right?"

"Ma'am." He gave a curt and respectable nod.

"Just wanted to show you your quarters aboard the _Normandy_."

He frowned at that, a simple bunk in the barracks would be enough for him, having his own quarters was something he didn't need, nor care for. "Was your crew able to salvage the equipment?"

Shepard did the 'iffy' hand gesture, "We got most of it on board, though we couldn't find any room for the vehicles. Damn shame, we could really use them." She shook her head, "Anyways, are you going to need anything concerning the ammo?"

"I have fabrication and recharging units. Raw materials will be needed to replenish ammunition."

"We can always stop by the Citadel to grab some things if you need it, or you can talk to Cortez down in the shuttle bay. He's our procurement specialist, he'd know more than I would on getting weapons and materials."

"Thank you."

"Good to hear, well at any rate, I've got some questions that I'll need answering." She waved a hand up as if she was trying to stop him from opening his mouth, "And yes, I know there are some things that you have to keep classified, just as so long as they don't endanger the crew." Shepard turned around and walked back up the ramp into the ship. After a brief second of hesitation, he walked up the ramp himself, but just as he was all the way in, his motion tracker brought a grey blip up at the edge of it, towards his 12 o'clock. He spun around looking over where numerous ventilation duct grates were situated leading into the air shafts circulated air, but he saw nothing.

"Hey, you coming or what?" He turned back to see the commander was waiting for him, and while he knew for a fact that something popped up on the tracker, he had a feeling that Shepard was getting a tad impatient. He would ask Cortana later about testing out the armor in combat in a real firefight and work out any bugs that may exist, either way he was leaving the _Dawn_ , and odds are he wouldn't be returning. Cortana had the _Dawn_ 's reactor set to go off within an hour and anyone around it in a mile radius was going with it.

He walked the rest of the ramp up with the commander ahead of him, "Joker let's get out of here."

" _Finally, let's get the hell away from this creepy-ass wreck. I'm getting the chills just from sitting the_ Normandy _in it."_

The Chief frowned at the unprofessional manner the pilot talked. If this were the UNSC, he'd be reprimanded heavily for his mouth, taken off the pilot's seat and put on what most navy men called 'bitch duty'. Or even discharged, depending on who was standing around as his mouth went off.

The _Normandy_ started up its engines and slowly backed out of the hangar as it left the nebula.

Deep inside the _Dawn_ 's wreckage, a few slithering sounds reverberated through the halls of the ship, as the danger left, and it was given another chance, but first that reactor needed to be taken care of…and then there was an orange energy field suddenly passed through the corridors, screeching the metal literally as it moved through the ship.

* * *

-The _Normandy_ Shuttle Bay-

Once the ship had left the wreck and the nebula, making its way back to civilization, Jane put her weapons up and finished taking off her armor with just her undersuit on. She looked to see the Chief making sure everything was organized and kept under lock & key, most likely as a security measure due to 'protocol' and he wasn't about to let someone whom he just met handle them. The rest of the crew had already returned to their own stations, with Steve and James making sure things in the shuttle bay were good with their newly acquired gear. Shepard walked over to the Chief as he stood next to the UNSC crates.

"You, know Chief, you could probably take your armor off and keep it here." He just shook his head, "I think I'll pass, ma'am." He opened up one of the crates to place the rifle he pointed at her along with a few others that were of the same model, but he kept the sidearm with him. A personally preferred weapon she wondered?

She leaned against their own set of cargo crates next to his own, "Well, I've got a few questions that hopefully aren't considered 'classified'…" She quoted with a gesture, "…so how is it that you're able to understand and speak the English language?"

Cortana had been tapping into the _Normandy_ 's systems and getting into the Extranet to see what she could find out behind this, but so far… _"I'd advise to keep your answers short and sweet concerning our neck of the woods, at least until I find out more as to why there are two humanities."_

" _Copy that."_ The Chief's external speakers shut off temporarily for private conversation with Cortana. He wasn't about to reveal her existence to Shepard, just yet. Even though she rescued him, he wasn't about to trust her so much, so suddenly.

"Unclear ma'am."

"Well…I guess that's what I'll get a far as that goes…so, anyways, you probably aren't familiar with the Reapers, but then again no one was until about a week ago. So, have you heard of the Citadel community?"

"The Citadel?"

"A~nd there's that answer." She took a small breath before speaking again, "Just how far exactly has your civilization come in the galaxy?"

Cortana had downloaded a few star charts and was overlapping them with the UNSC's own as well as the Covenant's territorial maps she stole from _High Charity_ , even going so far as to use the high-speed pictures they had taken of the galaxy from the Ark. _"It's interesting how they've mapped out what they've explored of the Milky Way. Though given what I've compiled, it seems we, and the Covenant are around and in the borders of what they call the Terminus Systems and the Attican Traverse if I'm interpretating this correctly. I can narrow down UNSC space further with more time."_

The UNSC did have 800 colonies, outposts, mining installation and stations in the Orion Arm, and ONI put the Covenant's own worlds in the thousands, possibly tens of thousands. During the loading of the supplies to the _Normandy_ Cortana did shoot down the crazy notion that they were no longer in their own galaxy, but just in another part of it. "Not very far."

Jane nodded as she filed it away for later questions, that hopefully she could get out of the Chief and getting him to lighten up. "Well, the Citadel Council is a cooperative conglomerate of multiple alien species across the galaxy. Though the leading species are the Asari -one of whom you knocked out- the Salarians, the Turians -our tall buddy Garrus- and us, Humanity, well at least three years ago. There are other races, but they haven't done anything really 'significant' to earn a seat on the council."

The Chief was perplexed at that. Humans were allowed to be at the top of an alien government? The way the Citadel acted, sounded more like the Covenant's own High Council, albeit no religious fervor fueling them.

"So, to continue with the little history lesson, even if your own grades sucked in that department…" She said more to herself, getting the Chief to look at her with a raised eyebrow behind his visor, "…around 50,000 years ago, an earlier and endangered, advanced race called the Protheans, whom you just met with me in the armory, were wiped out by the Reapers. You'll see them soon." She never thought she would hear those words coming out of her mouth, for the life of her.

" _A little note: Protheans equal Forerunners in these parts of the galaxy. No doubt there are already religious alien extremists."_

Fantastic…

"The Citadel was a massive Mass Relay that linked the galaxy directly to Dark Space outside the galaxy, and about three years ago we were able to stop them from activating it…"

Now that was interesting to the Chief. If these Reapers were out in Dark Space, the place where the Ark was, wouldn't they have noticed and intervened there? Or did they simply just not care enough to get involved with the Human-Covenant War's final battle? Either way, this was intel that he kept in the back of his head to give to HIGHCOM back at Earth. They needed to know about a threat like this. "…it's the center for galactic society and the seat of government. It's pretty much the political, cultural and financial capital of the community. Other species like the Elcor, Volus, Drell and Hanar have embassies there." She saw the Chief tilt his head slightly, in a manner that pretty much yelled 'What the hell kind of crap are you smoking'. Which she didn't blame him.

To the Chief, that was the single, most idiotic idea he had ever heard in his life. If an enemy of the Citadel Council were to stage an attack on the station; the Covenant for example if they were still together, then they would obliterate the leadership and economy in one single attack. Then their intel, home world & colony locations, battle strategies, ship schematics, etc. would be in their hands, and they would be taken over and absorbed one-by-one in almost no time at all.

Whoever decided to make it the supreme capital was both strategically & tactically inept.

If the UNSC found this Citadel, they would have quarantined the station for study, dismantling it or anything else that came across their curious/suspicious minds.

Now, if the Flood had found it…no. He discarded that though immediately. It was gone now. And he had Cortana back with him, safe and sound. He didn't want to think more of the insidious parasite.

"What exactly are the Reapers commander?" He needed to know what he was up against, and what the UNSC would more than likely be forced to deal with in the future, if-and-when they began to encroach on their territory.

She took on a grim expression, "They're a race of synthetic and partly organic race of hyper-advanced machines, that come back to the galaxy every 50,000 years, and they harvest advanced organic life, turning them into new Reapers. We stopped them from coming three years ago, like I said, but we also stopped them from an early harvest about six months ago after taking their vanguard, the Collectors out. Now with their extinction clock in overtime, they've arrived in force. They've already broken the Batarians down with almost no leadership, and Earth was assaulted over all other worlds in their sights, with millions already dead."

The Chief was stumped with that last bit of info. These Reapers had taken Earth, and they hit them in force more than likely when the Covenant invaded Reach. It wasn't his Earth, but all the same, he felt…helpless in a sense. He looked down in what appeared to be sadness, something the commander didn't really expect of him, but she guessed being told one's home planet being taken by an unrelenting enemy, with millions dead would bring anyone to sadness. But he was curious as to why Earth's location was compromised. If the Alliance followed similar rules and protocols that the UNSC had, then Earth would, or rather _should have_ been the last human world hit by the Reapers. Not the first.

For Cortana however, that made scrunch her brows in confusion. If what Shepard said was true, then the Reapers would undoubtedly have encountered the Forerunners. But they killed themselves off along with the rest of the galaxy to starve the Flood to death after activating the Halo array, and then reseeding the galaxy with the lifeforms they could preserve. She knew what they were capable of after combing through the info she had with the Index she had taken from the first Halo ring, and it was a massive treasure trove of information. But there was no mentioning of these Reapers at all in the databanks. Perhaps they weren't a significant enough threat to the Forerunners, more like an annoyance? Like a mosquito buzzing around your ear, and trying to kill it as it flew away. Getting a look at the Reapers themselves would provide her more intel.

Either way, she had so many questions now that needed answering.

This didn't make any sense, "Why do they do this?" He knew that the Covenant wanted to exterminate those that were considered 'heretics' and 'affronts to their gods'. The Flood wanted to consume all life in existence. Spark simply wanted his head, and the Index to set off Halo to stop the Flood, when they first encountered him. There had to be a reason why the Reapers were trying to harvest them.

Shepard looked to the floor with a hard expression, thinking back to all the times she talked to Saren, Sovereign and Harbinger, "Honestly, Chief… I have no idea why. To get kicks? Just to show that they can? No one knows why they do this. All we know is that they just drop from the sky, and start murdering innocent people, regardless of race, age or gender. Each time, we try to get close to answer…" She started shaking her head in disappointment, mostly to herself since she failed to get an answer each time, "…it just slips away in the form of them telling 'We can't comprehend their existence and purpose' bullshit. But right now, we're just concerned with surviving the onslaught and beating them back." She looked back to the Chief, "So, now you know a bit more about what we're dealing with here."

The Chief was silently mulling over what Jane told her, but he wanted to know more on how it started. "How exactly did this all begin? Did the Citadel prepare for war with the Reapers?" Shepard's response was…interesting. She chuckled humorlessly, "Why bother preparing for war with a race that leaves so little evidence that it exists, and can steamroll over civilizations, when you can just deny it all, and keep your head in between your legs while blaming it on paranoia and vivid dreams."

" _Wait what…?"_ Cortana puller herself away from her own work to place her full attention on the commander. Both she and the Chief were in disbelief. Just how in the hell did they ignore the evidence, miniscule or not, revealing the Reapers to the galaxy? Their humanity would've taken any bit of evidence as proof enough of an incoming threat to their existence, and would prepare accordingly. ONI would do whatever it took to gather as much intel and install precautions in dealing with the threat, and the UNSC would prep the military for war immediately and begin a draft in all of the colonies, and arming their branches and militia.

She looked back at the Chief's golden visor with a sad smile that held no happiness, "They felt that it was too much to accept and chose not to do anything about it. Now that they know they exist, and with Earth burning and millions dying there before any others were hit, they're sitting on their hands with thumbs up their asses. Well, maybe the Salarians and the Asari, the Turians are at least pitching in, but we have to scratch their backs before they can scratch ours."

That settled it for him. The Human-Covenant War was over, and the threat of the Flood and the Halos were eliminated for the time being. The Reapers were now a threat to humanity, not the UNSC, 'his' humanity for now, but they would eventually.

"What is our next mission, commander?"

The wonderful smirk of hers adorned her face, "I like your enthusiasm, Chief. But before we hit the Reapers next time, I want you to get used to living on the ship. I can show you around the place if need be, introduce you to the rest of the crew, show you were the food's at…oh~ yeah, will food be a problem? I mean you said you were human and all, but do you eat the same food type we do? Or, do you guys eat dextro-based food? Since if you do…" She paused putting a hand to her chin in thought, "…you would have like an allergic reaction, around the risk of dying, right?"

" _Now hold on a second…_ " Cortana interrupted, and giving her own science lecture, one of the things she inherited from her donor, _"…that doesn't make any sense. The only difference between dextro and levo is their chirality, and that wouldn't cause death. I mean if you were to eat a meal meant for Spartans that was dextro, you'd just break it down into levo proteins. Whoever told her this must have gotten their degree from an online school, they really need to do their research again on the matter in an actual lab, at a real university."_

"Basic sustenance will do, ma'am."

Jane shrugged, "Well alrighty then, I mean we do have the upscaled military rations but we also have some supplies for more, 'exotic' food that you get in a restaurant and keep you warm."

"The rations will do fine." Throughout the Human-Covenant War, and even before in the Spartan-II Program, he had grown accustomed to eating nothing but military MRE's. It kept him energized. It kept him plugged up. And that was all he cared about.

Jane just put her hands up in a manner that showed she wasn't going to press the subject, "Ok, I won't go any further on things. Though you may want to chat with the crew, get to know them better."

The Chief just shrugged his shoulders, meaning 'Maybe I will, but I doubt it' or something along those lines.

This would be the first of many shrugs, Jane suspected. Guess she'll see if actually keeps count. It'd be kind of weird if she did that, but hey, she had her quirks. She rolled her eyes, "Well come on, I'll show you where you'll be staying, you can bring some of your things with you if you want. Hope you don't mind not having a window, but you do get a nice desk and shelf."

He didn't say anything, but neither did he shrug his shoulders this time. So, she chalked it up with just whatever. She walked over to the elevator, with the Chief falling in behind as they took it to the third deck: Crew Deck.

Jane brought up her Omni-tool up and a few pictures cycled through the view-screen. "Deck three is the crew deck, down here we've got the medical bay where Dr. Chakwas, or Chief Medical Officer is at, the crew's sleeping quarters, the kitchen, the observation decks, which both have great views and the portside room has a poker table and a decent bar, which you can help to yourself if you want, and we have some play nights there, so you can join us any time and score some creds." She used her trademark grin to see if he'd get giddy, but she got no such reaction from him.

In his mind, a warship had no reason to have either of those things. There was hardly any time to play cards, and bars would only serve to make the crew drunk, whether in sadness or they got pissed off. Both of which only hindered their fighting capabilities against the Covenant.

Jane cleared her throat after the failed attempt to humor him, "Yeah, so moving on. EDI's AI core is located here, just through the med bay, bathrooms for genders. Liara converted the XO's quarters into her own office, well given her occupation I don't really blame her, and the main gun battery down the main hallway, Garrus has his stuff set up there, he _just loves_ doing calibrations. He says it more often than most other Turians."

The elevator stopped and they stepped out facing the memorial wall, with all of the crew members that were killed when the Collectors destroyed the first Normandy, and Kaiden. "So, to continue with our little tour, the top deck is my cabin. If you have anything you want to discuss with me, I have my door open to everyone. Up on deck two is the CIC, up there is the bridge where our mouthy pilot, Joker is 99% of the time, and his new co-pilot EDI, whom you kicked out of her synthetic body back on your turf. The galaxy map is there for navigation, so once you've found your neck of the woods you can punch it up there, Comms Specialist Traynor can help you out with that. Through the security checkpoint is the conference room and then the War Room, where Primarch Victus is at, coordinating the Turian forces, and we do have a few Quantum Entanglement Communicators, holographic comm devices I guess you could call them." She took a left down the walkway towards the life support room, "Deck four is engineering where our Chief Engineer Greg Adams is at, along with Gabriella Daniels, our Propulsion Engineer and Kenneth Donnelly our Power Engineer, both of which always have some amusing conversations. The port side cargo hold is where Javik is at, he has a tendency to wash his hands a lot, but that may be due to just how he can 'read' people and places and he has to scrub the residue off. Over in the starboard cargo hold is where our War Correspondent, Diana Allers has made her remote broadcast station."

The Chief looked away from the Omni-tool and stared at the commander incredulously. The UNSC never had war correspondents on their ships. It was deemed too dangerous for civilians to be onboard active war ships, and anything news related to the war was handled by ONI to keep the civilian population stable and ensure that mass panic riots didn't ensue, and they kept the peace. He had heard from Haverson that he disagreed with some of what ONI did, primarily at Reach when they invaded the continent of Eposz, but didn't inform the rest of the planet to prepare for invasion.

Jane looked up to see the Chief was staring at her, not the Omni-tool, and she could tell what he was thinking, "I know, I know, having a civilian aboard a military ship seems unorthodox, but so far she's been helping keep moral support up over the Extranet, and giving people a bit of relief, and she knows how to pull her own weight onboard with a single footlocker." She knew it was a weak as hell justification, and she didn't want to continue on the subject, so she went back to the Omni-tool, "And back down in the shuttle bay is James Vega and Steve Cortez, our armory chief's. Cortez is also our shuttle pilot, so he'll be dropping us into missions if need be." She dropped her Omni-tool and opened up the door to the Life Support room, the room was an overall dark shade of grey, with lights keeping it bright just enough to see things. There were shelves brightly lit up, with a desk and what would be considered a laptop setup, and a heavy-duty bead behind it.

Guess he knew now why she gave him his own room.

"I hope it's enough for your time on here."

He looked around to see that while he would have preferred a bunk in the crew's quarters, it would be alright until he returned to the UNSC, "It will do, ma'am. Thank you."

Jane smiled, "Good to hear, I'll make sure pass on the files we've got on the Reapers, and some other unsavory people we may end up engaging."

"Unsavory?"

"You'll see. I'll talk to ya later, Chief."

And with that, Jane left the Chief to his own devices. The Chief took the M6D off his thigh and placed it on the table, "Are we safe to talk?"

" _If you're referring to having me show myself outside the armor, us having a rational conversation and you not looking like a crazy person? Then yes. Their AI does have sensors throughout the ship, but I've put in a nice little block that prevents her from seeing me. When she reuploaded herself back into her synthetic body, I wiped away whatever data she thought she had at revealing me, same with the block."_ Good, he was worried that the AI would reveal Cortana's existence to the commander, and he could not allow that to happen, unless he was given no other choice.

The holographic laptop pinged with signal. No doubt the commander sending him the files they had on the Reapers and the other people they would be engaging in future operations. He took Cortana's chip and placed it in what looked like a slot that was the right size for her to enter, and he took his helmet off. The chair looked like it might've taken his weight, but he didn't want to risk it, so he opted to use the reinforced bed instead. As he sat down, the frame creaked a bit as it took his weight, satisfied with this, he let Cortana open up the files and brought them to the screen.

Over the next two hours, he combed through the files of the Reapers; their foot soldiers, ships, strengths, weakness, strategies, tactics, etc. Overall, he noticed that while the Reapers themselves were either a Sovereign-class capital ship spanning two kilomters, the size of a Covenant RCS-class armored cruiser, or a Destroyer-class ship that was 160 meters, about half the size of CRS-class light cruiser.

At first, they sounded pretty tough, but once he saw what exactly they were armed with, he quickly pushed 'major threat' out of his head. A UNSC Charon-class light frigate could gut a single Sovereign-class in 1-2 shots; one to overwhelm the Reaper's Kinetic Barriers, and the second to gut it entirely. Maybe one entirely, depending on the barrier strength. A Destroyer would hardly be a threat at all to a UNSC ship. The Covenant ships would obliterate them with their plasma-based weapons, a single torpedo melting their armor to slag and ensuring their non-functionality completely. Cortana was making notes on weaknesses on the ships where they could be brought down quicker.

Their ground forces, were strangely a lot like the Covenant's own troops as he and Cortana made the comparisons. The Husk, a Human-turned: melee-type only, barely a threat alone, but can be overwhelming in numbers, like the Drones. The Cannibal, a Batarian-turned: arm-turned weapon capable of semi-auto firing mode, and a grenade launcher, lacking leadership but can inflict casualties should it be given the chance, like Grunts, Jackals and Skirmishers. The Marauder, a Turian-turned: armed with a rifle called the Phaeston, an automated assault rifle, possess Kinetic Barriers unlike the other units, can rally other nearby Reaper ground units and augment them with armor, like the Elites and Brutes. And then there was the Brute, a Krogan-turned, but Turian intelligence-enhanced: heavy armor, shrugging off small-arms fire like nothing, can charge barricades to break open for other troopers and possesses only a large melee-like claw that can crush most others with ease, but can become berserk should other Reaper forces be killed off near it, like the Hunters. Applying what he had learned to kill the Covenant with, would serve him well in his fight against the Reapers.

As for the Harvester, an animal turned into troop carrier for the smaller ones, or for a couple of Brutes, possessed heavy guns on its 'mouth' and wings to carry its weight as it flew; in essence, a Reaper-equivalent to the Covenant's own Spirit and Phantom dropships, but these could be killed faster and were less armored than the former two.

As for the more 'unsavory people' Shepard mentioned…

Cerberus.

To him, it was the Insurrection all over again. The enemy he was initially trained to fight against. The rumor was that Cerberus started off as an Alliance black ops sect that became radical, and more pro-human. They had killed Alliance officers that asked too many questions, abducted dozens of children for experiments, etc.

" _You know, comparing the Insurrection to Cerberus, is like comparing saints to terrorists."_

"Hm."

In some way, he agreed. Cerberus was worse than the Insurrection, maybe just as bad, but they were clearly better funded. During the Human-Covenant War, several of Insurrectionist cells were wiped out by the Covenant; some had survived and continued their guerilla hit-and-runs against the UNSC, raiding them of their much-needed supplies, while others had gotten smart and helped them against the alien onslaught.

Cerberus had a sleeper agent, that turned out to be an android that the _Normandy_ AI now had control over, and had killed many of the people stationed at their Mars research facility. Their own troops were able to fight a little bit better than the standard Alliance soldier and were equipped with heavy armor and decent Kinetic Barriers. The Assault Trooper was their frontline soldier, armed with whatever they could use, and their Centurion commanders possessed smoke grenades that eliminated the infrared scans that most people used in this part of the galaxy. Although Cortana had informed him of his improved VISR's IFF system. It would outline his allies and enemies, along with weapons, equipment and anything else he could use. If the enemy was camouflaged or obscured by something visually like a wall or a solid object, then they wouldn't show up, but the motion tracker would be there to inform him otherwise. This something that would take away their advantage.

Next up were the Guardians, as they possessed heavily armored riot shields that had a slot big enough for a sniper round to go through. His SRS would be more than enough to punch through it with ease. The Combat Engineer was lightly armored, and carried heavy pistols but they could drop automated turrets and shield generators as they took cover; a support-class unit that needed to be taken out first before they could reinforce their allies with suppressing fire and recharging barriers.

What he learned from Mendez and their first operation to take out an Insurrectionist cell would be the way to go. Cortana informed him that the Kinetic Barriers that everyone seemed to use could be easily overwhelmed with his UNSC weapons, as their rounds could bring them down quickly and using his fists would bypass their defenses. The Covenant's weapons, well as far as the energy-based ones, would bypass the shields entirely and melt the armor that protected them.

" _Overall, I think we stand a good chance here after what we just learned."_

"I take it you're still going through their own databases?"

" _Oh, I'm done with all of that, now I'm just browsing the Extranet. You wouldn't b-believe what they have on here."_ That was odd, he had never heard her stutter a single word since working together with her on Reach. "Are you alright, Cortana?"

" _What do you mean?"_ She raised an eyebrow at him, thinking he had said something wrong. He knew he wasn't hearing things when she talked, "You stuttered while you were talking." Now she looked like _he_ was talking crazy, but then again what she was slowly feeling right now…

No. She wouldn't worry him right now. They had other problems now. She had delayed it for this long, she could do it a little longer.

" _Oh, sorry about that. It's just interfacing with the new hardware is making my projection a little laggy. It shouldn't be a problem anymore, though. So, new subject. What do you think?"_

"The Citadel and the Alliance are incompetent governments, by denying an enemy's existence, and not preparing their military accordingly."

" _Well, that much is obvious. I was meaning more on Shepard and her ship and crew."_

"The commander should not allow nonmembers of her military onboard the ship. The CIC is too far removed from the bridge, having a journalist aboard does more harm than good. Aliens should not have any business on a human war vessel as valuable intel could be stolen and distributed to future potential enemies."

" _More things you aren't wrong, but you shouldn't let that get to you. We aren't in the UNSC anymore, so the Alliance would work differently than our military. But can you take a bit to think more on the commander instead? You know, who she_ really _looks like?"_ She brought up some old mission debriefing videos and pictures. Primarily of Linda-058. The Chief had to admit, they looked very similar, almost identical twins in a way. He simply chalked it up to coincidence, but with Cortana bringing it up, he supposed there was more to it now, "What is the commander's background and service history?"

" _Commander Jane Shepard's parents were both Alliance military, her father was KIA in a Batarian ambush in the Traverse with her mother left alive to take care of her and her younger brother, John; whom had died of leukemia at the age of 10, and she was left traumatized because of this incident. She likes to use humor as coping mechanism and isn't one to open up with personal things, so she's a little closed off when it comes to her own life. At the age of eighteen, she enlisted in the military and rose through the ranks quickly with her hard work and effort. She displayed an aptitude for leadership, and she developed biotics during her time in the military and was labelled as Vanguard-class soldier. They're a specialized type of soldier that deals with high-risk close quarters combat, however her more preferred weapon class is the Sniper Rifle. The N7 Valiant rifle to be more specific. As for her other weapons of choice, the M-15 Vindicator, the M-96 Mattock and the N7 Valkyrie; their equivalent to our M392 DMR and BR55 Battle Rifle"_ So she preferred using a sniper more so than most other weapons along with precision-based rifles, like Linda.

"Anything else?"

" _Lots. She's a pretty big war hero, after 'single-handedly' repelling an attack on her own, while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. A morale booster for the troops, and something exaggerate to give her more status as 'Legendary' like yourself. The truth of what happened was she rallied the colonists together in a resistance against the invaders, and having their support she plugged up a hole in the defense."_

A publicity message to keep the troops up in moral, much like ONI Directive 930 with labelling all Spartans as either MIA or WIA, to give them the appearance that they couldn't be killed. Cortana continued over her further actions after receiving the Star of Terra; the Alliance equivalent to the UNSC Colonial Cross. Becoming the commanding officer of the SSV _Normandy_ , becoming the first human Spectre, hunting down the rogue Saren Arterius, taking on a Geth army, her supposed 'death' and reappearance and association with Cerberus, which was something the Chief would question her on later. Finally, her actions in the Bahak system that lead to her tribunal that was interrupted with the arrival of Reapers. "What does her psychological profile say about her?"

" _Her psych eval says that she's honest most of the time, and she cares deeply for those under her command. While she makes decisions that are more selfless, she certainly has quite the…_ dislike _, which is putting in mildly by the way, for slavers and pirates, but she has her own sense of justice. She encountered three people she deemed too dangerous, as they were already given a second chance at being a 'contributor' to society, and she gunned them down without a second's hesitation._ But **,** _she does have a soft spot for kids and people with dark & troubled pasts. She made a trip to the _Huerta Memorial Hospital _on the Citadel and spent time with children who were diagnosed with terminal illnesses."_

"Hm." His signal for her to continue onwards.

" _And, ooh~ how juicy."_

"What?"

" _You know that Asari friend of Shepard's? Well, she has_ a lot _of very interesting information. Personal records, interrogation logs, private emails, suspicious funding, etc. she could very start a war with the single push of a button."_

"Will this become a problem?" He wanted to make sure that she wouldn't be too distracted with this new-found database. Not only that, he wanted to make sure she absolutely did not, gain any information on the UNSC, if she had that kind of information on this community, and could start a war, she would end up at the top of ONI's hitlist should she choose to dig around UNSC intel.

She had look of mock surprise and insult, _"What? Me have a problem with digging into the most private of accounts in the newly found galactic community? Naaah."_ She crossed her arms, and she was grinning like the Cheshire cat. "Just keep focused…if there is anything important, will you be able to compile and save the data for when we return to the UNSC? It could be valuable."

" _Already done. There are a lot of planets we could use to mine resources and minerals for our own tech back home. Even some we could terraform and expand into other parts of the galaxy, some of which the Reapers have already taken. Though we may end up butting heads with the Council and the Alliance, should we make any move outside our own parts."_

"Hm." The UNSC would more than likely like to expand, nor would they care about what the Citadel or the Alliance had to say on the matter. If anything, they would see it as chance the rebuild their lost colonies the Covenant had glassed and destroyed, something the latter two governments may or may not understand. Either way, it wasn't his concern. The Reapers were right now.

Shepard's voice came over an intercom, from the ceiling, _"Chief, we've got a new mission. Head down to the shuttle bay and get prepped."_

"Copy that, ma'am." The intercom cut off as he responded. The Chief took the M6D and placed it on his right thigh as he grabbed Cortana's chip, and walking out of life support to the elevator.

* * *

-Jane-

Being the commander had its perks, but also some downsides. Many of those downsides being paperwork, but that's why she had other people to do it, or having VI's instead. After leaving the derelict with a new temporary crewmate and his equipment in hand, Specialist Traynor had sent a report to Admiral Hackett, whom was now waiting for her to get in contact with him in the QEC room.

Why she had to go through the security checkpoint on her own damn ship was a mystery to her.

Heading into the QEC room, Hackett was already waiting for her, _"Commander, I read your report on what you found, I'll be sending a science team plus added security to the derelict to do some research on it. Maybe get us something that will help our own ships. Now, who is this Master Chief?"_

Jane knew this part of the conversation was going to be the irritating part. She scratched the back of her head, "Well he says he's human, but he's never heard of the Citadel, the Alliance or the Reapers. He says he's with the UNSC, whatever that means, but he isn't a Cerberus project. That's a fact. To be honest, he's a mystery to me as much as we are to him. I asked him a few questions, but he wasn't very helpful, if I went any further, I would've been stonewalled with a big fat 'classified'. He asked us what year it was, for some reason, but I'm not sure why he asked that. He did however offer his help in taking down the Reapers, in exchange for getting back to his people, and I did give him my word. He brought a lot of equipment onboard the _Normandy_ , though he's keeping it locked up, he doesn't seem to trust us too much despite the helping hand."

Hackett held his hand to his chin in thought, _"It sounds like you've got your hands full. But, are you sure you'll be able to keep your word? Wherever he's from, it sounds likely he's from a very remote part of the galaxy. Something isn't right commander, there has to be some explanation behind his appearance."_

Jane knew that much, but her own usual self was all but lost on the giant soldier, "What do you recommend, sir? He proved to be immune to my natural charm, unfortunately."

Hackett had seen similar type of soldiers; the strong & silent type, those who would not divulge information unless they were ordered to, or if they had no choice, or if they were talked into doing it, after becoming comfortable with whomever it is they're talking to, _"Talk with him. Get him out of his shell, get him to come clean. It sounds like he's been trained heavily in high-risk operations, and being confronted with a great many unknowns makes him feel very vulnerable and alone. Cut off from his chain of command, he may not know how to react to what we're dealing with, and sharing intel won't be something he'll be doing anytime soon. Now I'm not saying it'll happen in a few days, this_ will _take time, and it may end up being weeks before he says something. If we get lucky, then we could very well talk with his government into aiding us against the Reapers."_

Well, now she had another reason, although it rubbed a bit more towards the 'use & abuse' sort of vibe, "I'll talk to him, though I'm hoping he doesn't take it the wrong way."

" _Keep, me posted. Hackett out."_ And with that, the Alliance admiral left to work on their war, and the Crucible.

Jane herself wasn't all too optimistic about her chances on finding a way to the UNSC, but Hackett was right. The Chief was a closed off individual who didn't trust what the future would bring, hence keeping many things classified, including his name. She what Spartans where due to that cheesy 21st century movie, which was a cool popcorn flick, but she had a feeling he wouldn't be called one without earning it. And then there was the number 117, where were the other 116? Or were there more, and he was just the only one left? She had cracked tougher nuts before, sans Jack who only joined her suicide mission simply because she bailed the con out of prison, but she slowly started to peel away the layers that Jack had built up around herself, and slowly began to caller friend in her own 'special fucking way'. Though the Chief was more like Legion, giving only enough to be considered an answer, and restricting info in regard to adherence of protocol.

She'd just take the Chief on with baby steps. One at a time.

Now she'd just make her rounds around the ship and talk with her crew. Making her way back through the security checkpoint, uggh…

Her first rounds were up in the CIC and she'd work her way down, starting with Traynor, "I really wish I could've gone aboard that derelict with you, even taking just a few glances around the interior of the ship would've been a sight to see. Who knows what we'll get from the science team, once they start getting set up with taking it apart, even if it's just half a ship."

"Oh, it wasn't anything special really, I mean at least this time we didn't get shot at or someone tried to kill us."

Samantha's interest peeked a bit, "Something happen the last few times?"

"Well~, the first time was on board a 'supposedly' disabled Collector ship, which lured us in with a fake Turian distress signal, and the second time was on a 'supposedly' dead Reaper corpse, which all had turned the Cerberus science team into Husks and tried to kill us." She talked as if were like a sunny day on a planet.

"Guess third time's the charm. Only we ended up not getting shot at, and well we now have a… new crew member?" She left on with Jane shaking her hand doing the 50/50, "Though I would like to see how his equipment performs. That armor of his looks like it's streamlined for combat efficiency, although I think it may have other uses also. And then there are the conflicting storage crates we brought onboard, the other more organic looking containers don't coincide with his own"

"I'm not sure if he'd just let anyone look at his things. He probably has a 'you look and I shoot' kind of policy. Something that I'm hoping I can talk with him about."

Samantha frowned at that, "Well, if anyone can do it, you can from what I've heard from Joker. I mean you were able to talk Saren into eating his own gun from what he told me…" Traynor shook her head to get back on track for what she came across, "…oh, never mind about that. While I was scanning Allaince channels, I found something you might find interesting, even more so when you mentioned the Collector ship. Grissom Academy is requesting help, the Reaper invasion front will hit them soon."

Jane arched her eyebrows, "I thought the war would close most schools." This was something that was common throughout not just Alliance, but also Citadel space, though she wasn't sure about the Terminus Systems. Traynor decided that an explanation was in order, "Grissom Academy is more specialized than a normal school. It's home to some of the smartest student's humanity has to offer, their Ascension program is the best training facility in the galaxy for human Biotics."

The commander nodded her head, as she remembered who she sent there, "I remember, I sent a young man named David Archer there. I'm just surprised it's still open." She remembered the horrors of what she saw on Aite, in the Overlord stations. People were gunned down by Geth, as they were controlled by David whom had become a rogue Human-VI hybrid program, and was almost unleashed on the galaxy. When she found out what had _really_ happened there, she was so goddamn close to pulling the trigger on David's older borther, Gavin…but she couldn't, she couldn't bring herself to shoot him, even giving him a flesh wound.

It was almost the same as if a puppy was about to be kicked.

Despite what he had done to try to avert a possible future war with the Geth, he was genuinely sorry for what he had done to his brother, and wanted to make amends by taking him away from Cerberus. But she knew he couldn't do it alone, the Illusive Man would hunt him down, and force him to continue Overlord.

Traynor continued detailing the academy to Jane and why it was still open, "Some of their work has Alliance support. That might be why they stayed."

"What can we do?"

"Well, at first I figured nothing needed to be done, but when you brought up that Collector ship incident, well I figured there was something wrong with it. You see, a Turian evac transport had arrived on site, but they used the same ship signal that the Collectors used to lure you in. Which we have EDI to thank for analyzing that, and she believes that it was Cerberus that responded to their call."

"Good catch…" Shepard giving a bit of praise to the Specialist, "…maybe you belong here after all." Samantha had made the comment that she felt as if she didn't belong on the _Normandy_ , as riding with legends such as herself, Liara and Garrus weren't something that happened to just anyone.

Sensing the appraisal, she smiled, "If this really is Cerberus, then this is something worth investigating." Though then it could be a screw up of intel, as Cerberus was well known for that, "Although this could be a simple as a mishandling of information."

"Traynor…" A bit more authority and force this time with addressing her.

"Yes, ma'am?" Tension there…

"Good catch." A reassuring look across Jane's face.

"Thank you, commander." And the tension gone…

Jane knew that Traynor was being a little too hard on herself, so ensuring she was comfortable and that she belonged here would her goal with the comms specialist. Heading to her private terminal adjacent from Samantha, she brought up the Chief's intercom, "Chief, we got a new mission. Head down to the shuttle bay and get prepped."

" _Copy that, ma'am."_

She'd bring the Chief with her, along with EDI and Javik as she wanted to see a few things. One, if Cerberus really was there at Grissom Academy, then EDI's knowledge of their inner workings and strategies would be valuable. Javik due to his own combat experience against the Reapers, but to also show him what other enemies they would be facing in this war. And the Chief, she wanted to see him in combat, she wanted to do a field assessment as she always preferred those over a dossier debrief. She wanted to see his weapons, armor and equipment in battle. How he handled fighting other humans, what type of fighter he was. She needed to know when to use him to his best and fullest capacity. If she got lucky, then she could use him for all around missions. Rescue ops, assault ops, infiltration ops, etc.

Now to prepare for a rescue mission.

NEXT: GRISSOM ACADEMY

* * *

 _CODEX ENTRY – THE GREAT MAW_

 _Due to Citadel Council law, the opening of dormant Mass Relays is forbidden in due to the sparking of the Rachni Wars, however it is also to ensure the safety of travelers throughout the galaxy. One such Relay that has been dormant is Relay 049; the Great Maw Relay. A Mass Relay that leads into a deep part of uncharted space that is not truly part of the Terminus Systems, but neither is it part of Council space. To the observer from the Relay, millions of stars are barely visible and their number is still in flux. However, one STG satellite observed what appeared to be a large flash of light, most likely due to a star going Supernova, or planet dying from a cataclysmic event about four years ago, and not another event has been witnessed._

 _Multiple scans have been made over this rather large section of the galaxy, however, due to a vast amount of radiation flares across the sector have made scans all but impossible. Only one scan has shown that there is no receiving Relay that allows travel to and from the rest of Council space into the Great Maw._

 _It is rightfully named as 20 years ago, a joint-venture between Asari and Salarian scientists with Turian security on board an advanced scientific exploration vessel attempted a venture into the Great Maw, without the use of activating the Mass Relay to test new VI-controlled stasis technology and to verify if there were any habitable worlds on the other side. They were expected to contact the Citadel within three years of launching, however after the fourth year, there was no contact made, no attempts were made to rescue the crew, and it was declared "Lost with All Hands"._

 _As such, the Great Maw has been quarantined until safe and proper methods of FTL travel can be established to and from Council and Alliance space. Not even privately owned corporations, slavers, pirates, colonies of the Terminus Systems or the Batarian Hegemony have made attempts to explore this dark region of space with untold amounts of potential colonies and resources._

 _To this day, no one knows what lies within the Great Maw._

* * *

 _The SSV_ Normandy SR-2 _'s Armory -_

 _Elkoss Combine M-8 Avenger Assault Rifle  
_

 _Elanus Risk Control Services M-15 Vindicator Assault Rifle  
_

 _M-76 Revenant Assault Rifle  
_

 _M-96 Mattock Assault Rifle  
_

 _Collector Assault Rifle_

 _Geth Pulse Rifle_

 _Cerberus Harrier Assault Rifle  
_

 _Systems Alliance M-37 Falcon Assault Rifle  
_

 _Systems Alliance M-99 Saber Assault Rifle  
_

 _Systems Alliance N7 Typhoon Assault Rifle  
_

 _Systems Alliance N7 Valkyrie Assault Rifle  
_

 _Prothean Particle Rifle_

 _Turian Phaeston Assault Rifle  
_

 _Elanus Risk Control Serrvices M-3 Predator Heavy Pistol  
_

 _Systems Allaince M-5 Phalanx Heavy Pistol  
_

 _M-6 Carnifex Heavy Pistol  
_

 _Systems Allaince N7 Eagle Heavy Pistol  
_

 _Armax Arsenal ML-77 Missile Launcher_

 _Elanus Risk Control Services M-100 Grenade Launcher_

 _Systems Alliance M-451 Firestorm  
_

 _Wegner Arms M-490 Blackstorm_

 _M-622 Avalanche_

 _M-920 Cain_

 _Cerberus Arc Projector_

 _Collector Particle Beam_

 _Reaper Blackstar_

 _Cerberus M-22 Eviscerator Shotgun  
_

 _Ariake Technologies M-23 Katana Shotgun  
_

 _Ariake Technologies M-27 Scimitar Shotgun  
_

 _Krogan M-300 Claymore Shotgun  
_

 _Geth Plasma Shotgun_

 _Systems Alliance N7 Crusader Shotgun  
_

 _Systems Alliance N7 Piranha Shotgun  
_

 _M-29 Incisor Sniper Rifle  
_

 _Devlon Industries M-92 Mantis Sniper Rifle  
_

 _Rosenkov Materials M-97 Viper Sniper Rifle  
_

 _M-98 Widow Sniper Rifle  
_

 _Systems Alliance Black Widow Sniper Rifle  
_

 _Turian Krysae Sniper Rifle_

 _Cerberus M-13 Raptor Sniper Rifle  
_

 _Systems Alliance N7 Valiant Sniper Rifle  
_

 _Elkoss Combine M-4 Shuriken SMG  
_

 _Elanus Risk Control Services M-9 Tempest SMG  
_

 _Kassa Fabrication M-12 Locust SMG  
_

 _Systems Allaince N7 Hurricane SMG  
_

* * *

 _ **Done, this chapter was obviously going to be the Chief's introduction to Shepard and we know a bit more about her. Now I know what some of you are thinking already and I will tell you this, I am working on something, but I'd like it to be a surprise. Now I need your help guys with something.**_

 _ **I need at least 7 OC's for this story, as they will appear later in this story, but they will have a connection to a certain group that I will not mention. They should be Mercs that are willing to cross Aria, Shepard and Nyreen in favor of someone that offers more power, and appeals to their own lust for power, these OC's will be leaders for their Merc gangs that will be talking to a recruiter for a much larger group that has a shitload of resources at their disposal. There needs to be at least one –**_

 _ **1) Batarian**_

 _ **2) Krogan**_

 _ **3) Vorcha**_

 _ **4) Turian**_

 _ **5) Asari**_

 _ **6) Salarian**_

 _ **7) Human**_

 _ **Give me some backstory to them, their genders, their personalities, their class of fighter etc. Now as to why Cortana was able to do what she did to EDI.**_ _ **Mass Effect AI's are dumb, dumber than a dumb AI for sure, but smarter than your typical organic. But just because Mass Effect AI's have a Blue Box doesn't make them superior. In fact, the Mass Effect wiki form AI states "An AI cannot be transmitted across a communication channel or computer network. Without its blue box, an AI is no more than data files. Loading these files into a new blue box will create a new personality, as variations in the quantum hardware and runtime results create unpredictable variations." this already highlights a lot of weaknesses of Mass Effect AI, mainly that they require a corporeal body to have a sense of Individualism, where if that body is destroyed, that AI itself dies and when it returns, it's a different AI. I should also mention that since they have a corporeal metal body, it can face a lot of issues such as damage in fighting or even just over time, so they would die eventually.**_

 _ **Now while Blue Boxes hold a lot of data, the Matrix is perfectly capable of doing the same, and since it's based - the Smart AI and the Matrix - off of a human brain, it could store between 10-100 terabytes of information. However, UNSC scientists have increased this amount for AIs, but for Forerunner AIs which live for around 100,000 years, they are far superior than both and hold much more data. But back to the blue box, while ME AIs can hold a lot of data, they lack the processing power to go through all of it at once, while Halo AIs have such powerful processing power that if they don't do anything for a second, it's like a day of them doing nothing has passed. This is also, technically, thanks to their shortened lifespan that their processing power has increased. So in short, Halo AI's are superior in nearly every way, besides from Lifespan. However, some Halo AI's such as Offensive Bias or 343 Guilty Spark were far superior in every aspect than both by a thousandfold, and for Forerunner AI's such as Mendicant Bias, he attained Meta Stability, whee the AI beats rampancy and attains immortality unless they are wiped from their systems. However, there is one AI that surpasses all of them - Abaddon - also known as the Domain to the Humans and Forerunners. It was a Precursor AI that could store an infinite amount of information, even holding data from 100 billion years ago. Even the Iso-Didact himself was shocked at it, as it's wiki page states "He now realized that it was a Precursor's version of an ancilla-one as far beyond those of the Forerunners as a keyship was to a wooden raft." This thing was capable of vaporizing organics and synthetics at will, turning them to ash and interfacing with the most complex Forerunner technology with such ease that it was able to kill the Forerunners in their suits.**_

 _ **So to conclude on that briefly, Halo Dumb AIs are smarter and are more capable than Mass Effects AIs, Halos Smart AI's are about 10 times more effective than Halos Dumb AI's and since Mass Effect ships don't have any protection against AI, especially one such as Cortana, only VI, Halo AI's could easily disable or self destruct Mass Effect ships before they could even ready their weapons. I'm not even going to mention Forerunner or Precursor AI since they're just insanely powerful. And as for the Gravemind, all AI's lose to him and since the Reapers are both Organic and Synthetic - both things the Gravemind consumes - he could easily take over them.** _

_**Anyways, up next, we see the Chief in action with Shepard's squad against Cerberus. Boy, they won't know what the hell hit 'em.**_

 _ **Also, big terrible fucking news that I'm sure some of you guys have heard already-**_

 _ **Bioware Montreal, the lead developer for Mass Effect: Andromeda has been downsized, working on other multiple projects, and a whole new IP.**_

 _ **And, the Mass Effect franchise has been put on the shelf. On ice. Like WTF?!**_

 _ **I mean**_ _ **seriously! While Andromeda had its flaws and bugs, I personally enjoyed it, and I was looking forward to future post story DLC! Where exactly did the Kett come from? What happened to the Remnant species? How did the Scourge begin? What's happening on the Quarian ark with the other Milky Way species hitching rides with them? Who was the mysterious Benefactor that helped Jien Garson fund the Initiative? What would our choices in this game bring in the sequel?**_

 ** _This game had potential to answer those questions in future DLC and sequels, and now the franchise is being put on ice, for who knows? A decade at the least? Who the hell knows?_**

 ** _The chance to explore the Andromeda galaxy, these new characters, species, and questions are now practically down the toilet, due to such a massive mixed, mostly negative reaction to Andromeda, and I feel that so much of this reaction is due to people still bitching about how these Andromeda characters aren't the Trilogy characters. There isn't a dark and dangerous threat to come and kill them all like the Reapers. People (including myself) STILL want to know what the hell happened in the Milky Way after ME3. BUT I have opted to accept that we will never find out.  
_**

 ** _So many things that could have been explored in this new era of Mass Effect. When I first heard about Andromeda, I was intrigued by this move, and I stuck with it for a bit, as I heard more and more, I was pretty sold on the idea. Being Pathfinders (Pioneers) to explore the Andromeda galaxy and find a new home for the Milky Way species, meeting new races, discovering old ruins, and having a fresh new start with the choices we make could adversely affect the sequel in a very big way, possibly._**

 ** _And now because of people sitting back in chairs at EA, looking at the sales, and the critics who ridicule this game, and not those supporting it. It saddens me that things have come to this, I honestly wished that fans could just move on from the Trilogy and give the Andromeda era the chance it deserves, but I think I'm asking too much, and I know there is someone will say I'm an idiot for believing so, but you know what? I don't really care honestly._**

 ** _Well here's hoping that EA doesn't screw with Dragon Age and leave us with only one or two good RPG IP's out on the market, and they actually do a ME Trilogy remaster for Xbox One and PS4 to try and get some of that money, the only thing they seem to give two shits about…_**

 _ **So be sure to read, review, favorite and follow this story more, and please guys, leave me REVIEWS! I appreciate that I'm told "nice chapter" but that doesn't help me improve my writing like it should, so please do so! Also, I have a Mass effect/Underworld crossover challenge should anyone be interested in tackling it.  
**_


	3. Chapter 2 - Grissom Academy

_**I finished this chapter up as quickly as I could, like around five last night, so I apologize ahead of time if there isn't as much content as you might think there should be, as I started school back up and I have no idea when I'll have another chance to write again.**_

* * *

" _Given how the first five recruits for the Spartan-IV Program performed, well, I think we need to be more precise with the selection as well. Rear Admiral Musa-096 and Lieutenant Commander Kat-B320, the latter of whom is still in active duty alongside and rebuilding NOBLE team, had chosen a good squad. But they lack the one thing the II's and III's had: Discipline. Edward Davis and Yeong-hao Holst, are good soldiers, and they stuck together to complete their objective during the first training exercise. However, Vladimir Scruggs his headlong and rash, charging Marines without any weapons and was the first one to go down. He along with Joel Thomas believed that they were invincible with their enhancements and augmentations, and then complained that they could have succeeded with their armor. Sarah Palmer, while a very capable soldier, acted like a lone wolf, and completed the objective, but she ultimately failed as well. She abandoned her team. The only two Spartans that I know of that can be both Team Players and Lone Wolves; one is KIA back on Reach, and the other is MIA since the Ark. And she isn't even close to either of their levels."_

" _So, what do you recommend?"_

" _I recommend that we take into account of not just their skills, but also their psychological profiles, their service history, their experience. We need to retrain them from the ground up. The Spartan-II's were a success because they received training at a very early age, same with the Spartan-III's, but they were taught quite literally everything, they then began to experiment with other areas of combat and excelled in those areas over others. Spartans 104 and 058 for example. 104 is the best in close quarters combat with knives and other melee-type weapons. If you gave him a single combat knife and put him against a Black Ops squad of highly trained Elites, then he_ will _kill the Elites with little to no effort. And 058 is the best sharpshooter in the entire damn military, 'nough said."_

" _Essentially retraining them from the ground up would be best then. Having the best retrained would ensure the Spartan-IV's would be a helluva lot more effective in the field."  
_

" _I do want to go over what Musa-096 said about the Spartans. He told Joel Thomas that he was no longer a Sergeant, but a Spartan, that all new IV's were Spartans and that was their rank. While it is understandable that he grew up along with the other Spartan-II's and they saw themselves as equals, they were given military ranks to ensure the chain-of-command stayed in place. John-117, Fred-104, Jerome-092, Margaret-053 and Kurt Trevelyan were made leaders because they held the aptitude for it, and they did their jobs right."_

" _So, you're saying we need to ensure that they retain the rank they possessed from the respective military branch?"_

" _Absolutely. Without proper rank structure, the Spartan-IV's are doom for failure in the field."_

" _Musa won't like that."_

" _Musa is a good officer, but his sense of comradery interferes with his judgement. We need have the S-IV's structured like the II's and III's, I also would recommend the usage of the Spartans, all of them to adhere to interbranch policies like any other soldier. I don't trust ONI to be so noble, especially since Naomi-010 was debriefed on her actions within Kilo-Five on supplying the enemy, and sabotaging our allies under Parangosky's orders, sir."_

 _-Colonel Urban Holland discussing with Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood on the Spartan-IV Program's effectiveness on their recruits, UNSC year 2553  
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Chapter 2 – Grissom Academy

The Chief rode the elevator down to the shuttle bay armory. He wasn't sure what he would be taking with him as he didn't have any of the details yet, although he had a sneaking suspicion Cortana did, "Cortana, do you know what the mission is?"

" _And I would know that because?"_

He would've said, 'Because I know you like the back of my hand', but then he would've sounded just as she does, "I know you. You get bored easily."

" _Har-har, funny man. Well the comms specialist, who underestimates herself too much came across a possible abduction by Cerberus at an Alliance school; Grissom Academy."_

"Why is this school a priority for Cerberus?" He knew that some UNSC schools were specialized for projects, but with the outbreak of the Covenant war, they were closed, and ONI took over the projects with the creators at the head of things.

" _The school specializes in spearheading numerous projects by the best students. New techs are brainstormed and experimented with, Biotic students are trained in new fighting formations and teamwork, and only the best are accepted. It's similar to the old days when Project ORION was being developed, along with the MJOLNIR armor systems. Grissom Academy is situated on a station in Alliance space that's about the size a CCS-class battlecruiser, so you should expect close quarters, although there is a rather large habitat area on the station, about the size of a small football field. I recommend bringing the M90, along with an Energy Sword, the M6D and your MA5C, although given how we'll be fighting Cerberus and their heads are pretty easy to shoot off, you may consider taking the Needle Rifle instead. Never know if the varying range will be removing the M90's advantage, despite how deadly that sucker is."_

He remembered _very_ well, how the M90 had become his best friend on Halo.

The elevator came to a halt as it opened up to the shuttle bay, where he saw the pilot, Cortez his name was checking over last minute details on the shuttle with his Omni-tool.

" _You know we should get one of those Omni-tools, I have a few ideas of what I can do with one of them."_

"Isn't MJOLNIR enough for you to perform you best?"

" _Well yeah, I mean it's like a cozy office with all of my things that I need to do my work with, but having a few new toys to play with in the field, would be pretty fun."_

"I'll talk to the commander about it."

The Chief walked to where his weapons were stored originally, but they were no longer there. He looked around the shuttle bay, though he didn't have to do for long with the James noticing his behavior.

"Hey, Esteban. We probably should've told the big man where we had to put his stuff at."

Cortez turned a full 180 to break from his work own the Kodiak, as he walked towards the towering Spartan. He didn't gawk or show any shock, most likely due to his own professionalism, something the Chief could appreciate. "Sorry about that Master Chief, we had to reorganize the armory when we brought your equipment aboard. I'm Lieutenant Steve Cortez, good to meet you." The lieutenant held his hand out for a shake, though the Chief seemed to stare at it, as if he wasn't sure what to do. A handshake was sign of mutual respect and friendship, something he wasn't willing to extend for now. He wasn't here to make friends exactly, though the little voice in his head made herself assertive, told him otherwise, _"Just take his hand, he and Lieutenant Vega are looking over your gear."_

Slowly, he took the pilot's hand. "Most of the armory was filled with standard Alliance weaponry, but ever since we extracted the Primarch from Menae, the commander's been buying and snatching every weapon she can get ahold of. Against the Reapers, most weapons just don't cut it anymore, with Earth occupied and Alliance procurement chains in chaos, the Citadel's economy is our only choice with resupplying." Cortez started to walk back towards the entrance with the Chief behind and took a left towards a table with some UNSC gear storage boxes on it, "When the _Normandy_ was being retrofitted, I was tasked with overseeing the shuttle bay along with the armory. No idea what Cerberus engineers were thinking when they put the armory near the CIC."

"Cerberus designed this ship?" If a known terrorist organization had built this ship, then what were the odds of them retaking it?

"It is; long story short: Shepard used to work with them to stop the Collectors, they gave her this ship and resources, she finished the job and then took it back to Earth, handed everything over a sign of good faith that she was still loyal to the military."

The Chief did read on that. Shepard had destroyed a Relay to buy the galaxy some time, but it ended up with a colony being destroyed and an alien race called the Batarians, wanting her head. She turned herself in to the Alliance, and was about to be court-marshalled but then the Reaper invasion began. Cortez stood in front of the UNSC gear, but the Covenant wasn't there, "Where are the Covenant storage containers?"

"Ah, the others are on the other side of near Mr. Vega's setup. We weren't able to get them catalogued properly like the others. The containers are a little, well…different than our own, and your set here. Kind of odd though, you don't see architecture like that outside of the Asari, but they aren't as organic as those." Cortez brought up his Omni-tool with the weapons lockers and setup of their own, "We have the weapons organized by their class: Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, Heavy Pistols and Submachine Guns. The five-class weapon system the rest of the galaxy uses."

Vega decided to join in the conversation as he walked over towards the two, "We do also have some Heavy Weapons like the M-100 Grenade Launcher and the ML-77 Missile Launcher."

"All of which we currently have in lockup right now, although I suspect the commander will want to break them out a lot more often, especially if Brutes and Atlas mechs are around the place." The two laughed a bit at the image of Shepard with the weapons in both hands chasing down fleeing enemies with their tails between their legs. The Chief shook his head at their behavior. Deciding to put things back on track, "How did you organize the UNSC gear?"

Cortez cleared his throat, "Sorry for getting off track there for a bit, we organized them alphabetically, since we couldn't open the containers with the commander asking us not to. She figured you'd prefer to handle your own weapons."

" _Well, that was nice of her, letting you have your privacy with your weapons and equipment. Though it probably wouldn't hurt to let them take a look-see at the weapons; given that they restock the armory, and we will need raw materials for the printer fabricator."_

"The M9 and M90 marked containers have weapons I'm taking with me. You may overlook the weapons, provided that they stay in the armory and are not distributed outside the ship. They are not to be used by other ship personnel without my explicit permission."

It seemed odd that he was allowing them to see how his weapons operated, but he didn't want their functions and design to be distributed. But hey, gift horses and all, "Thanks, that'll make restock and resupplying easier. There are a few suppliers that deal in raw materials, though…" Cortez walked down a makeshift aisle with the UNSC weapons stacked up, while James spoke up, "So, Chief, any chance we can take a look at the 'other' weapons, in the purple containers?"

For years, UNSC scientists, engineers and technicians had worked their brains to the bone, trying to figure out the complete inner workings of Covenant weaponry. And even then, despite the 30 years of fighting against them, they had only scratched the surface of how they operated. All he needed know about them was how they fired, how they operated, and what did they fire. It was enough for him and any other soldier fighting the alien horde. He wasn't so sure if these people could do what they couldn't. "Yes. Press the blue symbol on the side to open a container."

James threw his arms in a victory sign as if his favorite B-ball team scored, "Yes!" He quickly walked over to the Covenant weapon containers, while Steve walked out with the containers of what he needed. "Alright, got 'em. The 'M90 Close Adaptive Weapon System' and the 'M9 Fragmentation Device'. Had a feeling that the M9 was the frag grenade, though they seem a bit heavier than our own. Must be packing some pretty heavy stuff in them, as for the M90…" He left the sentence off for the Chief to finish up, as he opened up the container to see… "Shotgun. Pump-action, carries 12 shells in the stock; possess a maximum range of 100 meters. Shells are 8-gauge carrying various pellets of lead, steel and tungsten. Ammo packs contain 24 shells in total."

Steve whistled in appreciation, "Now _that_ is a monster of a shotgun. The only ones that can really compare is the Geth's Plasma Shotgun and the Krogan's M-300 Claymore. Though the former has few shots and a comparable range, while the latter has the stopping power, but it only has 1-2 shots and the range is about a few meters. You have a pretty good balanced weapon right there. Though I don't think you'll be able to use ammo mods on them, the shells and if I'm guessing right, the rest of the ammunition is completely different than ours."

"Ammo mods?" His curiosity won out with that.

Steve took an ammo pack from the container and opened it to look at the shell, "Ammo mods, you know. Cryo, Disruptor, Incendiary, Armor-Piercing, Shredder and Warp ammo. Little interchangable mods made to the weapons to give them an extra kick."

The Chief knew that shotgun shells and rounds used in their rifles, sidearms and machine guns used armor-piercing rounds in their weapons, since the Covenant's own armor was quite resilient, while incendiary rounds were manufactured to incorporate the flammable properties inside the rounds. He knew how effective they were in combat, but he never thought that the weapons themselves could be modified to turn all rounds into the same thing from a standard bullet.

"I'm unfamiliar with it."

"Well, given that you use 8-guage in a shotgun like that, I don't think you'll need any. You could kill Reaper and Cerberus troops with only a shell or two. Can't say about your other weapons without seeing what they're using. But if they're anything like these, you won't need them. A fully shielded and an armored soldier would be stopped, dead in their tracks at point blank range." He set the shell back into the ammo pack.

"Hey, Chief. What kind of weapons is this? It's…weird looking, like a fish almost." The Chief turned around to see James handling a Plasma Repeater. He did recall Marines and Army Troopers saying that much of the Covenant's weaponry looked like aquatic animals. "Type-51 Improved Directed Energy Rifle."

The wording just went over the young lieutenant's head, "Uhmm…ok? Not sure what that means, but what does it fire? What kind of rounds does it use?"

No harm in letting him know about that, as he doubted they could replicate the weapons, "Plasma Repeater." Now James was interested, like a kid in a candy store, "Wait, this thing uses plasma? Like _real_ plasma? Not like the low crappy stuff the Geth use?"

The Spartan just nodded, "Yes."

James whistled, "Man, I so cannot wait to see these thing in action." The Chief on the other hand knew what they were perfectly capable of. But he was never enthusiastic about seeing Covenant weapons killing people. He opted not to say anything in response.

The Chief took the M90 along with 4 ammo packs, and three M9 Frag Grenades. He already has a few clips for the M6D already on him, so no to worry about that. He walked over to the Covenant weapons and looked for their symbols designating the Needle based weapons, and hit the proper hologram to open the compartment with two Type-31 Needle Rifles. Knowing how much needle shards it carried, he grabbed five cartridges worth of reserve ammo, and three Type-1 Plasma Grenades. Seeing that a Flare was below the main compartment, he took that knowing that it would give them a chance to blind the Cerberus troops and allow them to retaliate without a counterattack.

The Commander walked out of the elevator along with the alien, Javik and the android EDI. "All geared up Chief?" She noticed that he held several grenades attached to his waist, along with some spare ammo, and one of the more 'exotic' weapons from his ship.

He nodded, "What is the objective commander?" He already knew what they would be dealing with, rather he asked knowing that the commander would be _very_ curious as to how he came by that info.

"Cerberus is attacking Grissom Academy, and possibly abducting students and teachers that've been staying over to help with Alliance tech and attack formations. We're heading there right now to help out whoever's left and take out the Cerberus force."

The Chief had never heard of a terrorist group actively abducting people, in the Human-Covenant War, the Insurrectionists had stolen arms, ships and equipment from the UNSC, even stupidly attack the Covenant. But abducting people? Never. They had nothing to gain from that. Was Cerberus so low on manpower that they had to abduct people into their ranks? Or was there another motive to this play?

"Understood." The rest of the team had geared up with their own weapons, Javik with his Particle Rifle and EDI with an N7 Hurricane and the Phalanx. Jane had armored up with the Armax Arsenal chestplate and shoulders, while she had some Hahne-Kedar arm gauntlets and leggings. The red paint job matched her red hair and brought out the green in her eyes. She grabbed a Black Widow along with a Vindicator, and stocked up on thermal clips as her armor allowed her to carry more than usual.

She eyed the Chief's own weapons and noticed that he carried the pistol that he seemed to never leave his sight, and a small hand-held device attached to his other thigh. And then there were the weapons on his back. She couldn't tell much other than that they were both of different design seeing the butt end of the weapons. There were ammo clips and packs that were also attached to his waist like a metallic belt that seemed to fold out automatically and a small spherical object that had yellow lights all over it. She had a feeling that he would use them in the mission, as he seemed like the kind of soldier that used everything and didn't waste a shot or movement. "Those weapons close-quarters?"

The Chief nodded.

"Smart man." She turned to address everyone, as Steve got the shuttle ready for their departure. "Alright everyone, you know what we're dealing with. We save as many of the staff and students we can, while killing some Cerberus bastards. Make sure to watch your shots, we'll have friendlies on-station. Cerberus has the docking bay secured unfortunately, but the director of the academy, Kahlee Sanders has a cargo port near her position open, but Cerberus is rushing their abduction, so we'll need to act quick. Cerberus has us outnumbered with a single cruiser and a few dozen fighter on blockade duty, so Joker will be a distraction while Cortez flies us in. Any questions?" She was met with silence giving her the answer. "Alright, let's load up."

As the _Normandy_ slowly came to a crawl beyond the enemy's sensors, the shuttle bay was secured as Cortez flew the shuttle out and activating the stealth systems. Joker took the ship and flew past multiple fighters nearby drawing them like a moth to the flame and did his part, as Cortez flew the shuttle to the cargo port where the docking tube had already been extended for them to crossover.

During the ride, EDI had been compiling information on the Master Chief, as she was curious about him. He had somehow booted her out of Eva's body, which she had full control over, ambushed her and Liara without them noticing. He was an enigma, and he acted more almost like a synthetic would despite being Human. She had theorized that he had been put through rigorous mental training and conditioning to ensure that his potential would be maximized in the field and to think quickly. This mission would provide more aspects and information on his combat capabilities & armor functions, as well as weapons, which puzzled her that he would use weapons of different designs.

Javik on the other hand, did not need to read too much into him. He could already tell that he was a warrior, and that he joined the commander only to kill Reapers and the Indoctrinated, in exchange for aid in returning to his people. He respected him for that. He would see just how effective the Master Chief wa—

' _ **DID YOU THINK ME DEFEATED?!'**_

Javik shook his head at the reading he had begun on the ship. The words echoed in his mind when he felt the signature residue of the chaotic alien. Only time would tell if it had been truly defeated.

"Alright, we're in. Cortez, hold position, we'll be back." Cortez nodded his head as he kept the shuttle ready for a quick evac.

Jane & Javik readied their assault rifles while EDI pulled out her SMG. The Chief swung out the Shotgun, already bracing it for action. The doors opened up to the grey interior of the school as they walked through; their private channel opened with Kahlee's voice, _"Commander, I'm locked in a server room around the corner. Cerberus troops are trying to get in."_ She must have already picked up their IFF's from inside. As they drew closer, they overheard the troops chatter, "I've almost got the door open."

"Careful, she's armed."

The door's opened up, and the _Normandy_ crew was well…surprised to say the least, at the Chief's speed, as he pulled the trigger of his Shotgun on each of the poor Cerberus soldiers that were gunned down, along with the Engineer trying to crack the door open. Now of course one could say that the Cerberus soldiers were caught off guard, but then again there were two of them watching the entrance they came in.

So they did have a chance to retaliate, but they were denied the opportunity.

Jane's eyes were wide as she had seen the Chief kill the soldiers with such precision and speed, pumping the shells out as he fired off another. "Wow, remind me never to piss you off, Chief." She took note that the shotgun he was using had _quite literally_ , blew them into chunks and pieces. Leaving a bloody, smelly mess that painted the hallway.

The Chief just reloaded his weapon, keeping it ready for the next engagement. Shepard approached the partly opened door, where Kahlee was held up in, "Sander's, we're clear, it's me."

The door opened up with a desk overturned with the squad already entering the security station. Kahlee Sanders had a Scimitar in hand, ready to blow someone that got too close. "Commander, thank you." The academy director smiled with relief that they were getting help from their abductors, "Admiral Anderson, always said you were the best. And with Cerberus coming for my students, I need the best." She had heard about Shepard from Anderson, and he always spoke highly of his protégé, but then her eyes widened a margin, as they drifted momentarily to the large one in hulking olive green armor. He was armed to the teeth, and he was pretty intimidating to say the least. The weapon he was armed looked old and weathered, but she heard the tell-tell signs of a shotgun going off, one shell for the Cerberus troops right outside her door.

She didn't doubt that he could probably take on the Cerberus force here on his own.

Jane needed to know what the situation was like on-station, "How many of you are there?"

Kahlee made her way over to the security console, explaining things, "Fewer than twenty. Most were sent home when word of the Reaper invasion spread." She started getting control of the systems that she still had control over from Cerberus, "But a few volunteered to stay. Some are prototyping tech for the Alliance." Jane motioned her team to keep a look out for Cerberus troops, no doubt that the terrorists were keeping in radio contact and they would send some to investigate, although the Chief started searching the Combat Engineer for anything that might've shed some light on their objectives.

"Others are biotics." Kahlee continued to explain to the Jane, "They've been training for military operations, working together as a biotic artillery." It made a certain kind of sense to Jane, though as long as she had worked under Anderson, he hardly ever mentioned Kahlee to her.

Probably since she was learning how to fight and lead, instead of getting into his personal life, "You said something about Admiral Anderson." She was a little curious about this woman, as she apparently was told about her abilities in a very positive light. "Yes. We met—God, what's it been? — 20 years ago, when he was a Spectre candidate." She was researching artificial intelligence with a group of technicians and engineers, but she grew suspicious of their director's erratic behavior when they discovered an unknown artifact, which then became known as Sovereign; the Reaper that lead the Geth attack on the Cotadel two-and-a-half years ago. She had downloaded all of their research and planned to escape to Elysium, as she was afraid the others on the team wouldn't believe her. A series of events later, brought her into contact with Anderson, and the former Spectre: Saren Arterius…

"I was there when Saren betrayed him." A bit of venom in her calm voice, "David saved my life that day. He's a good man."

Now Jane knew who it was that Anderson had gotten out of the mission he told her, when she began her hunt for the rogue Turian. She thought it was best that Kahlee should at least know what was happening to her instructor, "He was on Earth when the Reapers hit. He stayed behind when I got offworld." Jane was still raw about having to lead Earth. Leaving the fight didn't sit right with her.

Kahlee's eye widened a bit, "I hadn't heard… We've been cut off from most news. He's alive?" A bit of hope within her tone.

"Alive and fighting." Jane had reassured the academy director, "He's currently leading the resistance movement." She knew if anyone could hold the Alliance together on Earth, it was Anderson. Kahlee's face brought on a bright smile at the news, "Good. If we get out of here… Well, just tell him to stay alive."

With that little bit of personal status out of the way, Jane brought things back to the original point, "A few months knocking over training dummies won't prepare your students against Reapers." Sending teens into the frontlines even in a small skirmish was something she always tried to avoid, an Elysium, on Mindoir, anywhere, where it could be avoided. Kahlee nodded her head that she agreed with the Shepard, "I agree, but the Alliance needs every resource it can get, and our students are unique…" She hesitated, trying to find the right word to describe them, "…resources." She looked down for a minute before returning to Jane's look, "They wanted to help." She defended her student's decision to help support the war effort. "How could we say no with the entire galaxy falling apart?"

Suddenly she came across a fading comms signal, "Hold up, I've been trying to get communications working again." A channel came alive with a plead for help, _"This is Froeberg! The students are trapped in Orion Hall! Cerberus has us boxed in. They're closing fast!"_ Kahlee tried to recapture the channel, but it was jammed permanently this time. No doubt Cerberus' doing. Kahlee slammed a fist down on the desk, "Danm it!"

Shepard readied her Black Widow, just in case she could get the jump on them and pull the first kill off with a headshot. "Orion Hall?" Kahlee already knowing what the commander already planning, "Back out the door and down the hallway. I can get the door open."

The Chief overheard the directions, and rather than wait for Kahlee to get the door properly, he chose the more 'brutish' option instead. Using his augmented strength, the Chief pried the doors open leaving Sanders and Shepard's eyes wide at the Spartan's strength and Kahlee complimenting further, "Wow, you really did bring the best with you Commander. And the strongest…" Kahlee knew that the doors were sealed magnetically, and they were blast doors as well. Meaning one would have to have some heavy-duty weaponry to get it open that way. Not even a Krogan warlord or a Geth Prime could pry the door open.

Jane regained her composure, "I'll bring them back here, and we'll make a run for the shuttle."

"Thank you, Commander. I'll stay put. With luck, I can regain control of some of our systems."

As the squad moved through the forcibly opened doors, the Chief informed the Jane of what he found on one of the datapad's from the Engineer, "Commander, Cerberus is after the students for their skills in combat. The intel provided to them suggests that they're after highly skilled individuals to indoctrinate into something referred to as the 'Phantom initiative', while the rest will be used for genetic testing material."

Now, _that_ bit of news put a scowl on the commander's face. "Alright, that's it. No Cerberus bastard is leaving this station alive. Shoot to kill, we're aren't letting this slide." The squad agreed on this. As the continued through the hallway, they saw a few Cerberus troopers dragging a screaming kid through the hallway while an Engineer held his Omni-tool out if he tried to do something. Shepard was about to start shooting through the glass, but then she saw that the type of glass was bullet-proof. She knew that she couldn't save everyone in this war, and that this kid would be an unfortunate pawn in the Illusive Man's scheming machine.

BUT…the Chief was not going to let it happen. He pushed the commander aside, and began to sprint at a speed that she found herself, not prepared for, "Chief! He's—" She was also not prepared for what happened next. If she blinked, then she would have missed the entire thing.

The Chief used his armor's new modification as a test against the glass, and the poor Engineer. He holstered the Shotgun as he took the Energy Sword from the magnetic clamp into his left hand, and kept it ready to activate. The Chief jumped and used the thrusters on his armor to perform a 'Spartan Charge' through the heavily, sturdy glass and launched his body at the Engineer, who had no time to react as the Chief threw a punch that caved in his skull, splattering brain matter, blood and bone bits across the wall, while the Energy Sword came to life and sliced the head off the Assault Trooper as he spun around to take aim with the Magnum in his right hand to blow the head off the one dragging the student.

The kid scrambled away from the Cerberus troops as Shepard, along with EDI and Javik, both of whom were wide eyed in shock at just how fast, brutal and precise the Chief was in combat. The Chief deactivated the blade and holstered it along with the Magnum while he turned to the student who got up and looked at the carnage surrounding them in the hall, "How did—? Who are—? T-thank you…there were a few other students back in the classrooms. You've got to help them!"

Jane came over through the glass to calm the kid down, "It's alright, we'll get them out alive. Kahlee Sanders is back that way." She motioned behind them, "She's over in security, you'll be safer there."

"A-alright. Just…just give me a second to catch my breath." She patted the teenager on the shoulder, as they continued on with their way to the classrooms and Orion Hall. The Chief had apparently self-appointed himself as pointman, with Jane coming up beside the Spartan. "Ok, now _that_ was a major move there. How the hell did you break through that glass? It's resistant to even anti-material rifle rounds."

"MJOLNIR."

"…is~ that the name of your armor?" She could've sworn she heard that name in an old movie she saw when she was a kid…

The Chief just gave a curt nod, and swung out the purple rifle with what looked like needles sticking out of it to her. "Ok, now that thing looks like mad doctor made it." The tall man just shrugged in response, "It work." As they came through the door, the squad saw two Assault Troopers standing outside a biotic bubble with one of the students keeping them at bay.

"Reiley Bellarmine, drop the barrier now. Nobody's going to hurt you. The file said we need you alive. But your sister? She's optional. You give us trouble, we'll find her."

The Cerberus captain filled the intercoms across the station with their own words to, 'convince' them to surrender. _"The Alliance cannot save you. Cerberus is your only hope. We know it isn't your fault, your teachers have filled you with Alliance propaganda. Cerberus can keep you safe. Earth has fallen. The Alliance has failed. But Cerberus is Humanity's last hope. Fighting now, only dishonors your species. Cerberus has the tools to continue your work. You need us…and we need you. There are Alliance soldiers on this station, they claim they want to help you. But all they're doing is threatening your safety. Please, don't get caught in the crossfire. Surrender now."_

Jane was itching to just shoot the speaker, but alas he was safe on the cruiser parked outside the station.

Bastard was lucky, otherwise she'd be pulling his teeth out. One. By. One.

Jane was going to have Javik and EDI take the troopers out, but the Chief once again with such accuracy pulled the trigger on the strange rifle as two purple shards flew through the air and impacted the back of the Cerberus soldiers head. Now while she knew most weapons just went straight through someone's head once the trigger was pulled, but anti-material rifles like her Black Widow would blow the head off.

This weapon had the same result, but it went off in a beautiful pink mist, overtaking the blood and gore from the victim's heads. EDI was analyzing the weapon as it's shard of needles that came from the top of the rifle had gone down, most likely a way to keep track of its ammo capacity and to inform the operator that it needed to be reloaded. It was an odd weapon design, as it held no stock, only the handle, barrel, etc.

Javik had to say something at the least, "The Spartan is, what is the Human saying? A 'trail blazer'?"

Jane had seen so far how he had conducted himself, he was mechanical and precise as he was fast and brutal. So far, it was looking like she could take him everywhere with her on missions. She walked towards the biotic bubble with the student straining to hold up, mostly out of fear for being taken alive. "There may be more nearby. Play dead until it's safe, then get to Kahlee Sanders in security."

Reiley dropped the field as he collapsed to rest, "Ok, but my sister Seanne is still around here."

"We'll find her, I promise." Shepard moved over into the classrooms with the rest of the squad behind her, but then the Chief took point again and led the way. Now normally Shepard wasn't one to let someone else take point, but the Chief had proven to be _very_ good act acting quickly to kill their enemy. Hey, she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, but so long as he stayed with the squad, then it was alright with her…for now that it.

Moving through the hallway where debris was blocking their path to the back, they had no choice to go through the front entrance, but the Chief spoke up, "Commander, we have approximately seven hostiles entering the classroom with a friendly heading towards us, recommend you take cover and provide suppressing fire while I engage the hostiles."

Jane looked at the Chief with a glare, "How do you know that?"

"MJOLNIR can pick up motion up to 40 meters."

"That's not how a team works together Chief. In fact, that's a textbook way to get yourself killed."

Cortana piped up on the armor's private channel, _"Chief, the friendly could be a student and Cerberus is pursing them. Either move in now, or let them die."_ She was already coming up with a counter argument as the way Shepard's teams usually operated were not as effective as single Spartan on their own, going on the offensive constantly, meanwhile combing through the cruiser's database for their purpose and possible future plans. "Commander, Cerberus soldiers are closing in on the friendly, it could be a student." As soon as the doors opened up, sure enough a student was running for their life as a squad of Cerberus troops came through the door, led by a Centurion commander. Jane was about to say something, until the Chief came through the classroom door and pulled the trigger on the Assault Trooper about to open fire on the poor girl. She slid behind a desk with her hands covering her head in the hopes that she wouldn't get shot.

The Centurion saw the armored giant with the strange rifle as he killed one of his men, "Take cov-UAGH!" He dropped a smoke grenade before his head was enveloped in the pink mist, letting the rest of the squad get some cover, before the Chief tossed a Frag Grenade into the mix, killing two more troopers. Jane growled a bit in frustration at the Chief's actions, "Dammit… EDI, Javik, let's give him some covering fire."

"Yes, commander." A singular answer from the both of them. EDI held the Hurricane, which she modified with a Heat Sink and Stability mod into the weapon, allowing her to fire off more rounds than usual and with more accuracy. Javik saw another squad of four entering the from the other side attempting to flank them and tossed a Lift Grenade to eliminate the threat, but only got three and maimed the third with him floating up in the air, giving Jane an easy shot with her Black Widow. The Chief on the otherhand…

The Spartan had charged into the aftermath of the detonation. One Assault Trooper had stayed in the far rear of the squad, escaping the blast of the Frag, while two others had taken cover. Apprently, their helmets allowed them to see through the smoke, but their armor was singed heavily as shrapnel left one with a bleeding arm, and the other a partially blown off set of toes. They ignored the pain as the Spartan had rushed in. EDI had used the Hurricane's accuracy to keep them pinned down, but she stopped firing once the Chief went in.

They though he was stupid for doing, hoping to catch him in a killbox on three sides as they doubted anyone could survive. But they were wrong. They were _very_ … wrong…

The Chief side stepped the soldier in the back firing at him, letting his shields flare as he grabbed the soldier to his right with the bleeding arm, and then using him as a human shield. The firing stopped as he threw the now riddled corpse towards his attacker, sending him sprawling to the ground. Leaving the other injured trooper to his left, as he holstered the Needle Rifle, and pulled the Energy Sword out to stab him through the chest. The Assault Trooper had tried to put his hands up in a defensive posture, but the pure, perfected plasma cut through his arms like butter and they flopped to the floor, leaving a shock-induced trooper to die. The Chief took the blade out of the corpse and calmly walked over to the Assault Trooper who had pushed his comrade's corpse off, and tried to plead for his life, "Wait! Nononon—AGH!" The Sword went straight into his head, ending the terrorist's life.

He deactivated the sword and brought the Shotgun back out, as he regrouped with Shepard who was applying some Medi-Gel to the young girl, "Just head back to Sanders in security, can you do that for me, Emily?"

"Yeah, y-yeah, I can do it. Just give me a few minutes."

"Ok, good." Jane walked over to the Chief with a look of annoyance, _"Guess someone wasn't happy that our favorite Spartan broke rank formation."_ He could care less if she was annoyed. He took action against the enemy to quickly eliminate them and save a civilian. "Chief I know that despite, you just saved a life. I can't use you if you go runnin' and gunnin' like that. That isn't how we work as a team. Maneuvers like that will get you killed if you don't call them out to anyone!"

Now the Chief furrowed his brows at the commander. He agreed to follow her into combat, but this was the way Spartans fought and won their battles. Staying on the defensive constantly would only give the enemy the advantage, only pressing the attack would keep them off balance and unable to retaliate.

" _Well, we can't have our acting-commander inhibit a Spartan's combat capabilities, now can we? Here, Chief, just repeat after me…"_

"Commander, this is how Spartans have been trained to fight. I can assure you, that the benefits out-weight the risks." He simply relayed what Cortana had told him, as he had a feeling that she would have a better understanding of how the commander's tactical mind worked.

Jane took a quick look around the room at the Cerberus corpses and those behind him, and to see if they were still clear, "You were taught how to fight like that? Ok, you know what, fine. You know your limits and skills _a lot_ better than I do." The Chief sensed a bit of… jealousy in her tone? "But next time you pull something like that again, make sure to notify me, is that clear soldier?"

"Yes, ma'am." This would work out to his advantage. Cortana had a feeling that Shepard would more than likely call the Chief up to her cabin for a few more questions on his combat experience.

She would take him away, like a—No!

Stop thinking like that, it wouldn't do a lot of harm to answer a few more questions, so long as they weren't classified. She needed to keep her head together.

The squad moved through the doors as they swept the area before moving to Orion Hall, looking for any other civilians still alive. The Chief moved down the hallway and turned to his left as he saw a teenager lying on the floor while trying to keep pressure on a bullet wound on the side of her stomach, "Commander, a survivor."

Jane came up behind him and saw the same thing, she rushed over to the wounded student as she warned her to stay away, "Stay… stay back… or I'll… I'll…" The Chief holstered the shotgun as he took out a can of biofoam to stop the bleeding. Shaking the can and priming it, he took the can and applied the substance to the wound as he lifted her hand, letting a bit of blood drop before it was plugged up. Jane was impressed, while Medi-gel had its own set of properties to heal people for a bit, but they didn't have anything quite like this in the field as far as combat-grade med-kits went. Maybe she could discuss its usage with the Chief and Chakwas.

She turned her attention to the student after seeing her ID tag on her uniform, "Seanne, can you hear me?"

"How—how do you know my name?"

"I'm with Kahlee Sanders at security. Can you get to her?"

Seanne nodded her head, "Yeah… I just need to rest for a minute. She turned to face the Chief, towering over her with a small smile, "Thank you."

He simply returned the nod and came back the way they came, heading to Orion Hall with the squad behind him. As they took out the laptop hooked into the speaker, Kahlee came over the intercoms and helped out whoever she could. Meanwhile, Cortana was looking at the ship's schematics, and noticed that Cerberus had rigged their ship to self-destruct should anyone try to board it and take any intel if they tried. Another major sign of how far the terrorist group was willing to go. More on some of the files she collected, had results with abducting citizens on Benning, hitting an Alliance communications HUB, a fighter base on Noveria, sabotaging a Turian-Asari joint held fuel reactor, etc. Quite a list for them to hit, but that was all she got as there as nothing else in the databanks.

She began calculating if she could initiate the self-destruct and save them some time, but the station could go with it, depending on how large the yield was, and judging from the rigged Eezo core, it was pretty big. Not UNSC big, or Covenant big, but sufficient enough to warrant caution. Perhaps as they left the place, then she could go ahead with her new devilish plan. She rubbed her digital hands in anticipation, at the glorious fireball the cruiser would become.

Kahlee came over their channel with news, _"Commander, I just got a message from one of our students in Orion Hall. One of our instructors is with them, but they can't hold out much longer."_

"Copy that, Sander. Alright, let's double-time it people!"

The squad began to sprint full speed through the hallway, though the Chief obviously left them in the dust. As soon as the door opened, Jane heard an all-too familiar foul-mouthed voice, "Eat this!"

A massive biotic shockwave ripped through a squad of Cerberus troops, with an intensity that ruptured their hearts and killed them. The source of said shockwave, was from her old 'suicide squad' member, Jack. The psychotic biotic.

"Jack?" This was a _very_ weird as hell place for her to be. And her outfit, had changed drastically, or rather she simply got more coverage in a manner of speaking. Gone was just the prisoner pants, leather-shredded boots, shaved head, and the belt that covered her dignity. Now she sported a sort of mohawk style that she had done in a ponytail, with a black leather jacket covering her upper body, along with some military pants, steel-tipped boots, and what she could guess as cloth wrappings that covered up most of her body. Jack turned her attention to her old leader, "Jane?"

The Chief wasn't entirely convinced, that this woman was an instructor. In fact, she looked like she belonged in prison.

Oh, the irony. If he knew the story behind that one.

But the little reunion was cut short, when an atlas mech came through the door behind them, it launched a rocket at the students, but Jack reacted fast to throw up a barrier that held up, and she didn't even break a sweat. The Atlas mech came under fire by Jane and her squad. The Chief however had pulled the Needle Rifle out and shot a few rounds at it, but it bounced off the metal and had no effect.

Frustrating.

"Everyone, get down! This thing's outta your league. Jane, keep it off us!" Jack ushered the studnets to the security balcony as she added her own support to the growing biotic barrier.

Jane had moved to an adjacent pillar for cover while EDI and Javik moved to nearby pillars. The Chief knew that the Atlas mech was armed with a missile launcher in its secondary firing barrel, but he also had another Cerberus squad coming up from the rear, near the security balcony. They came in quickly to try and flank Shepard, but the Chief had an idea with the mech, "Cortana, calculate a trajectory for the Atlas' missile." He was standing out in the middile with Shepard looking at him like he was crazy and was practically ordering him to get into cover. Well he didn't need it for what he was about to do next.

" _If you're planning, what I think you're planning…"_

"Yes."

The Atlas pilot caught sight of the second squad coming to support him a rear-man coming to stay on the high ground to pick off the mech and the alien, and the Spartan standing out like a sore thumb. He figured taking him out, and then driving Shepard to the reinforcements would be best, so he launched the missile straight at the Spartan.

What happened next was something that made everyone, even those watching through the cameras speechless, slack jawed, and wide eyed.

The missile hurled right at the Chief, but in what some would miss if they blinked. Others saw it clear as day. The Chief pivoted his right arm back and then lashed out at the missile, and was redirected to the Cerberus squad, who all were killed save for one up top, who saw his life flash before his eyes. The Chief wasted no time as he took a shot at the Assault Troopers head with the Needle Rifle, letting the pink mist take it away to happy land, and he full sprinted right at the Atlas, holstering the Needle Rifle and then primed a Plasma Grenade for detonation. The Atlas mech, unfortunately for him, had his speaker on, "FUCK THIS SHIT!" He tried to turn around and retreat, but the Chief climbed up the main gun and climbed onto the top of the mech, smashing in the protective glass and dropping the grenade in with him, "SHITSHITSHIIIII—!"

The Chief jumped off the mech, just in time for the grenade to go off and envelop the mech in a blaze of blue glory. With whatever was left of the mech, to be melting from the intense heat and vaporization of the cockpit and the main body of the vehicle.

Well, at least Javik had learned something about what to say in this cycle in the short amount of time, "I will not lie. That was badass."

"Agreed." The AI was certainly now more cautious on how to approach the Spartan due to what he had just shown in combat.

By the time the Cerberus squad had been dealt with and the Atlas mech retreating, Jack and her students had dropped the barrier out of shock and curiosity of the Chief's slaughtering of Cerberus. Jack had her mouth open, "Holy fucking shit! Was I the only one here that saw that whole goddam mess?"

Rodriguez was the only one to speak up for the rest, "Uh, I think so…but aren't you also supposed to watch what you say ma'am?" She timidly replied

Jack waved it off absentmindedly, "Forget about that, I'll get you guys some omni-tatoos if you keep that a secret for today." She was still watching the Chief take out the Atlas mech with the grenade after boarding it. Javik had to now officially give respect to the Spartan. EDI was now officially intrigued by him, and Jane, well… "Godamnit Chief! You gave me a heart attack! Did you know you could deflect that missile like that?! Was that whole thing planned?!"

Her face was contorted in a mixture of anger, relief, and confusion. He paused for a bit before shrugging his shoulders.

Shrug number two. 'Does it matter?'

Jane was about to just punch him in the face for that. Instead she just deflated after moving her mouth a few times trying to find the words, but then closing and her face turning red with rage. She took a deep breath as it faded, "Ok, we are going to have one _hell_ of a talk when we get back to the _Normandy_. You know that, right?" Now she wanted to know who in the hell was he and his civilization was fighting. If they had encountered any of the Citadel species, then there was no way in hell that a fight would warrant them to use such risky and deadly moves like that. Their weapons were overpowered, despite how archaic they looked, and sturdy as hell. The exotic rifle and the sword he used before were more than likely from the enemy, but he never even mentioned a shred of info of them.

"I knew Kahlee sent an SOS out, but I had no idea the Queen of the Girl Scouts would come." She turned her attention up to the grinning Jack who leapt down and started walking over to Shepard. Now normally Jack's way of saying hello, was getting socked to the face, but after what she just saw, and who he was with, she just went for a biotic fist bump, which Jane had returned. Then it became a little struggle to who would relent first, "What's the matter Shepard? The Alliance not letting you get back into shape? You had more muscle on you six months ago."

Jane just scoffed at the biotic, "Yeah right. Are you sure you didn't go soft?" Well, she knew Jack was a much stronger biotic, but technically, Jane had more muscle and physical strength than the ex-convict. It was a stalemate, until Jack just let go with the commander almost falling face first to the floor, with the Chief taking hold of her shoulder to keep her up.

She tapped on the gauntleted hand to let him know she was alright, "So Jane, where the hell did you pick the mech up?"

"Oh, he's not a mech, he's human. And we found him on a derelict, if you can believe it where he was stuck in a fridge for four years."

"Wait, did you get shot at this time?"

"Surprisingly, no. We didn't."

"Well, shiiii-taki mushrooms. Wish I could've been there, but the snot nosed brats can't do a damn thing without me." Jack shook her head to get serious as did her expression, "Alright, now that we got some time, I need to make sure I get my guys outta here., that's all I care about right now."

Jane arched an inquisitive eyebrow, this was not what she expected.

EDI had taken notice on jack's usage of words, "Jack's personality appears largely unchanged."

"Hey, EDI. Now you look like a sex bot, not a sex toy." There ever perverted mind of Jack rising up again.

"Your guys?" Jane spoke up. Jack had solemn look on her face, but she seemed happy though as she looked back up to them conversing with one another, "Yeah… I guess so."

The commander knew Jack's background, more so after their trip to Pragia. She hated the other kids at the facility, but she also felt a ping of sadness for them. When they came across an old recording of some of the scientists that had experimented on them all, they had made their way over into the Alliance's Ascension program, which worried the ex-convict a great deal. Only her info about the program did it stay Jack's biotic fury to kill the surviving scientists, and this told her one more thing about Jack; she was _very_ protective of kids in some way, "I can't think of anybody who could care about them more."

Jack kind of went with the flow of what she said, "Well, I had some free time while you were off playing hero. Alliance brass knew I helped you, and…they offered me this. They went ahead and wiped my whole record off before even making the offer." Jack relaxed as she stood a little more relaxed and crossed her arms as she glanced up to her students, "And apparently they respond well to my teaching style."

"The psychotic biotic."

"I will destroy you!"

The students going off with Jack, catch phrase and her no longer infamous, but now famous self-appointed, and official title.

Jack's manner went all professional, or as professional as she could get, "Prangley, those fields of yours were weak. Cerberus won't lie down like that girl you took to prom. Drink you juice Rodriguez, you couldn't destroy wet tissue paper. Make sure to get a drink and eat an energy bar, we move out in five."

The Chief had observed the ex-con's behavior, and while she certainly appeared to be immature and not good enough for the job, she displayed her dedication to teaching and protecting them. When she turned on her professional side, she seemed to be more like a loosely strict version of his own training officer, Chief Mendez.

" _Wow, I honestly did not see this coming from her. Jack was a convict that Shepard broke out of prison to help her in that suicide mission against the Collectors. Her psych profile suggested that she was more of a loner, that preferred isolation and out right refused to work with other. Guess the Commander can certainly change people around. Now she's like a mother panther with her own kids, and is more open to cooperating with others, and she certainly has a good friendship with Shepard."_

He recalled back in the war against the Covenant, that many former prisoners that hadn't been convicted of anything serious, and those who wanted to kill Covenant had been pardoned to enlist in the corps. He wasn't sure how their system worked with releasing prisoners into the war effort, but it was something they needed to consider if they were anything like Jack.

Cortez' voice came over the comms. The Chief wasn't too big on the fact that they were on speakers so anyone could hear any conversations, _Cortez to extraction team. The Cerberus cruiser's coming back"_

"How long have we got?"

" _Two minutes tops, commander. After that, there's no way I'll get past them."_

Well that certainly made things problematic. Jane looked up to the students and did the numbers in her head, along with her squad, Kahlee, the other three students that they had rescued, and Jack. It was about 17 or so. So, she made a call, "Get out of here, and back to the _Normandy_. We'll find another way off this station."

" _Roger that. Good luck, ma'am."_

Jane switched over to the channel that Kahlee had established for them, "Shepard to Sanders. The students are safe, but the shuttle is a no-go."

" _Understood. I might know another way off-station, but I need station-wide camera access, can you disable a Cerberus security override? It's being used over in Orion Hall, so it should be nearby."_ Shepard motioned for the squad to spread out and search the area.

"How does camera access get us of this station?"

" _The Cerberus cruiser weapons won't auto-target friendly ships. Which gives us a fighting chance to escape."_

The Chief took to the wreckage of what was left of the Atlas and saw a laptop behind a set of bleachers wired into the wall. The security override no doubt. Although, rather than destroy it immediately, Cortana already had something in mind she had been preparing for them, _"Chief, touch the console for a bit before you destroy it. I made something to help even the odds against Cerberus."_

He knew she had something in mind, and given her upgrade she received after their return to Earth from Operation: FIRST STRIKE, she was able to transfer bits and pieces of coding, programs and even herself without having to leave his armor or the data chip. Placing his hand on the console, a small flurry of blue entered the digital orange that kept the override up and going, and soon it disappeared with the Chief informing the director, "Director Sanders, you should have access now."

" _Got it. The fastest way would be through the Atrium. You should be able pry the doors open like the one outside security. I'll move ahead to get the shuttles prepared and ready to fly."_

"Copy that, ma'am." Shepard had been using some of their time to catch up with Jack while they still had time, with the rest of the squad regrouping down below to the hallway leading out to their goal. The Chief came up to the door and began to pry the doors open with his brute strength as the doors sparked trying to remain sealed. But they finally gave out as the Spartan had pushed them away from each other, making the way clear. "Commander, there are several Cerberus soldiers moving in to prevent us from reaching the shuttles. At one Atlas mech is currently positioned to fire on the door."

Jane couldn't help but still be amazed at the Chief's ever surprising capabilities. She turned to Jack and the students, "Everyone, be ready. We'll go in first and draw their fire."

Jack had rounded up the rest of her students, "We'll shadow you up on the second level, and hit those fu—those guys from above." Jane was now thirsty for an answer to that. Jack usually swore every five minutes or so. How unusual…

EDI turned to Shepard, "A sound strategy. It will keep fire off of the students." Jane nodded in agreement, "Just time your shots, and stay safe."

Jack turned to the group and addressed them, "Alright, I didn't bust my ass training you, so you could die now. Keep low. Pick your targets." Short, sweet and to the point. As they were about to leave, the students Omni-tools came to life with the Cerberus propaganda man talking over the speakers, _"Students of Grissom Academy, the station is sealed. The Alliance soldiers cannot save you. All they can do, is get you killed. Surrender peacefully, and you won't be harmed."_

Jack's demeanor took a dark turn, no doubt imagining pulling the bastard limb from limb, slowly and painfully, letting him feel every bit of pain. She scoffed at what the jackass was saying, "Asshole."

" _Dammit, they're messaging everyone."_ Sanders spoke over the private channel, _"Students, switch your Omni-tools to private mode so they can't track you."_ As they did as they were instructed, Rodriguez started to wonder if they really weren't going to make it off this place, "What if…what if they're not lying?" The look began to pass through each of the students, which jane noticed that they couldn't let that get to them, "You've already held your own against Cerberus. You've been trained for this by one of the best."

Jack kept the inspiring bravado going, "Come on Rodriguez, they're only asking nicely, 'cause you scared them in that last fight." She got within her personal space and acted more like a drill sergeant, "So take your balls, outta your purse, and kick some ass." It had the relieving effect that she was hoping for as the teenager sighed a bit and smirked, "Yes ma'am."

"Let's go." Everyone parted ways as they took their own routes. The doors to the Atrium opened up to the Atlas mech currently facing away from them, but two Centurions saw them and popped their smoke grenades to provide cover. The Chief noticed that there were a few Combat Engineer setting up defensive turrets to keep them pinned down while four Guardians moved along from the right to flank the, with Assault Troopers coming up the rear of the Centurions. They were already making their push with the knowledge that they would more than likely head for the shuttles.

Jane tossed in an Inferno Grenade to flush them out of the smoke, forcing one of the Centurions to drop out of the smoke, letting his body become riddled with bullets from EDI and Shepard. The other was a little lucky as he took cover next to the rampway, however Javik lifted him seven meters into the air and slammed him down with enough force to hear the bones crunch and his armor break. "Moving to engage flanking forces, commander."

"Got it, watch yourself now dammit." She didn't want to have to bail him out, but the least she could do was give him the benefit of the doubt. By this time, the Atlas had joined in the fray and started to lay down covering fire for the Assault Troopers and the Combat Engineers. The two turrets already setup started to keep Jane pinned down from using the Black Widow to lay into them. The Chief had charged through the Guradians killing all but two of them, he had swapped the Needle Rifle in favor of the Shotgun to jam it through the slot of one, pulling the trigger with his head going up in a red mist, while the other pulled the trigger on his M-358 Talon, pelting the shields of the Spartan.

" _Wow, I knew that your shields would be superior to their own, but the rounds this guy shooting you with would be enough to down their own barriers with 5-6 shots. Energy Shields are reading at 92%, this isn't even a contest."_ John was impressed. He knew that they utilized kinetic weaponry but not gas operated, and not true plasma like the Covenant. If this was the extent of their weaponry, then he doubted they would be able to combat the Covenant efficiently as the UNSC did. Cortana had outdone herself this time.

He tossed the other Guardian away and just walked over to the Guardian, who _still_ thought he had a chance to kill the Chief, and simply ripped the riot shield out of his hands, pointed the Shotgun right at his chest, and pulled the trigger.

Poor bastard's organs painted the wall.

The motion tracker picked up movement from a nearby door that had at least four more hostile entering the firefight. He readied his weapons as they came through, but he saw several biotic warps hit the Cerberus soldiers from above. Not long after the warps began to pummel them, Jack's voice was loud with glee, "Shepard! We're ready!"

"Good to hear, hit 'em with whatever you've got!" Jane had just downed an Assault Trooper that had taken cover, a Combat Engineer had taken cover and tried to setup another turret. EDI had used her Overload to short-circuit one, leaving it open for their biotic support to destroy, while Javik had tossed a Lift Grenade to destroy the other. However, one of the other Engineers had opted to stay back with the shield generator, and the other she was about to take care of was resetting the turrets. His foot was just out of cover ever so slightly to give Jane a chance to blow it off.

She pulled the trigger as the sniper round tore up the front half of his foot, getting him to scream out in pain as his head threw up in reaction, giving her a second shot to take the head off. As she did, the Atlas fired a missile at her, position, and with no Chief to simply 'bitch slap' it away again, she changed positions as the small part of the Atrium had gone up in an explosion. Javik had through a Dark Channel out to take infect a third squad that had come through with reinforcements, mainly Assault Troopers, but one of the troopers got smart and kept his distance as the ancient biotic field killed him, letting it die off.

The Chief ran to the top of the ramp as he tossed a Frag to kill the last Cerberus soldiers, and took the Flare off his belt. He saw that EDI was laying covering fire and pinning the last Engineer down, with her Phalanx, Javik and the commander were trading shots against the Assault Troopers from another squad reinforcing them, as the Atlas was keeping them away from their objective, but they had yet to notice him. The Engineer started pelting Jack and her students up top as he sent an Incinerate towards them but was blocked. Proving to be a pain in the ass with a shield generator constantly buffering him, jack had enough as she had pulled him up towards the Chief giving him a clean shot to his upper body.

He cranked the Shotgun to the upside down, floating Engineer as his legs and lower torso were the only thing sticking together. Using the Flare to his advantage, he had informed them over the comms what he was going to do, "Commander, throwing a flare to blind Cerberus forces."

" _Wait, what? That'll blind us in here too!"_

"Keep in cover and don't look towards the Cerberus forces." He tossed the Flare as it activated, blinding everyone, but just giving the students a major lightshow up top. The Cerberus troops got the worst of it as the Flare landed right in front of them.

"Shit where the hell are they?"

"Fucking hell! I can't see!"

"Goddammit!"

He decided to use another one of his Thruster Pack's new abilities.

The Ground Pound.

He leapt into the air and began charging his thrusters and aiming at where the most damage would be done. Right where they were huddled near the Atlas mech.

EDI had been observing how the Master Chief had conducted himself in battle, and he just as brute as a Krogan; disciplined as Turian; maneuverable as an asari, and cunning as a Salrian. But his movements were more akin to a Geth or a mech like what she was driving, yet he was completely organic as far as she knew. His armor held many things over their own. When she saw that a Guardian had started shooting into him, she noticed that his shields did not flare up as their own; the standard blue kinetic barrier that encircled them, or the biotic barrier that enshrouded them like Shepard and Javik, but nor did he possess any Tech Armor like Sentinel-class soldiers did as he wou;d have displayed the signs of possessing it. But instead of any of those things, his shield simply appeared to cover his entire body, but they only flared up at the contact point, with a vibrant golden glow unlike what she had ever observed. More questions she had on the technology that built his armor, as they did not possess anything on such a scale.

While simultaneously killing Cerberus soldiers, she was watching the Spartan as his enigma continued to intrigue her greatly. While she did not really trust the Chief, she certainly was willing to extend trust to him in battle as he appeared to be a soldier that preferred to bear the brunt of the attacks, allowing others to take kill-shots and ensure victory, but he also used very unorthodox tactics.

The next one she observed was among them.

He had thrown a vibrant flare out into the middle of the battlefield, blinding the Cerberus force giving them the advantage. But he leapt into the air, as she observed the thrusters on his armor levitate him and hold him into position as they aimed him towards the hostiles.

Next the master Chief had dived right at the troops and crushed one, with blood seeping through the armor, and his chest cavity now caved in completely, while sending two more towards the wall, and the Atlas mech stopped shooting as the pilot was more than likely blinded by the Flare as well. Her own visual systems could not see pas the bright light. As the light began to die down a bit, she took it as an opportunity to nail headshots with her Phalanx and took to pulls from the trigger to end their lives.

Meanwhile the Chief had climbed up onto the Atlas mech over behind it, where the main important parts where at. He started bashing in the mech as Jack and the students threw Warps at it to weaken the shields, and Shepard's squad to pelt the glass protecting the pilot, but smoke started to come from the rear as the saw the Chief climb up with the Energy Sword ignited. He took the sword and pointed it straight down at the pilot who was trying to retaliate against what was in front of him, and life left him as the sword came down and cut his head in half.

The Chief jumped off the mech as it had taken too much damage and exploded, with the Chief just calmly regrouping with her, like some action flick hero.

"Damn I wish things worked out like that for me." Really, was it really that easy for the Chief to ignore the explosion and come out looking like a badass? If she tried something that crazy, then she would've been thrown away from the explosion as she covered her ears in pain from the shockwave of the sound. It never was supposed to work like in the vids.

"Shepard, we'll head over next to soften them up for you. And make sure to let the big man down there not to steal all the kills!" Jack called out down below. She and the students made their way over to the next half of the atrium where they waited for the Cerberus reinforcements, no doubt heading their way.

"There is a passageway leading into the second half of the Atrium." EDI pointed out as she motioned towards the open door.

"Let's move people." Shepard had motioned for Chief to take point, while EDI, Javik and herself came up his rear. The Chief swept the hallway looking for hostiles. She noticed that he was a soldier that did not take any chances in battle, as his shots were brutal and efficient. He made sure that the enemy was down for the count, and the way he tore the riot shield away from that Guardian all but displayed how merciless he was.

Jane got Sanders on the horn, "Kahlee, we're in the atrium."

" _We're taking a back route to the shuttles, we'll meet you there."_

As they moved out of the hallway and out to a firefight between Cerberus forces and the students above. One Assault Trooper was killed by a Warp from up top, "Nice one, Prangley!" Jack complimented one of her best.

The Chief kept the Shotgun out as he reloaded before the next firefight, and noticed a few Cerberus troops moving down from behind them trying to flank them. Guardians no doubt along with a single Combat Engineer taking the rear, with a turret on his back.

He saw that two squads were focusing more on the students up top, and their barriers were faltering as their rounds were wearing it down. Deciding to take some of the heat off of them, he sent a Hologram running straight at the Centurion who noticed it and shot at the running hologram as he was joined by two Assault Troopers, but they failed to notice that there was nothing there as Javik had thrown a Lift Grenade to kill them.

EDI threw her own hologram out behind an Engineer setting up a turret, and with the turret now running up, it sensed the hologram as an enemy and turned to unload onto the confused Engineer, and back to the decoy that exploded leaving the turret vulnerable from biotic strikes from above. Shepard took the head off one of the Centurion leaders and threw a cascading Shockwave at an entrenched Engineer who took a shot at the faltering barrier of Rodriguez.

"Dammit, Prangley, get Rodriguez back on her feet and slap some Med-gel on her." Jack ordered. She threw a Warp at the Engineer that comboed with Jane's Shockwave that threw his body several meters away until it hit the back of the wall knocking him unconscious as his body floated down below into the meadow. Jane drew her Vindicator out over her Widow and started to lay into another squad entering the atrium from above.

The Chief had rammed a Guardian into the wall, and punched another with the force to penetrate the riot shield and his armor, where his heart and lungs were then penetrated by fractured bones as he began to drown in his own blood. The Chief holstered the Shotgun and drew out the Magnum and he aimed and fired through the 'mail slots' of the shields and charged to the Engineer who desperately tried to set the turret up.

It was trampled over by the Spartan's massive weight and his throat was suddenly grabbed and his neck was snapped by the gauntleted hand. John dropped the corpse as he took aim and pulled the trigger on the surviving Cerberus soldiers as their heads were removed with clean shots, and Javik destroying the last turret and stomping on the head of the Engineer that took friendly fire from his own turret.

"Primitive terrorists…"

As the squad began reloading their weapons for what would more than likely be the final push, Shepard called up to Jacks' group, "Everyone ok up there?"

"Rodriguez took one in the arm, because she didn't watch her barrier!" Kahlee came over the channel soon after, _"Commander, we reached the Cerberus shuttles without being detected. But they know what we're doing, you need to hurry."_ The squad continued through the open door leading to the shuttle bay, but the enemy knew what they were doing now.

Now things we're getting dicey. However, Cortana's little gift, she prepared would start up in just a bit. _"You know that little thing I sent through that Cerberus override laptop, that I infected earlier, Chief?"_

"Yes, you sent something into their systems, didn't you?" He could already imagine what it was.

" _I may have sent in a timed-release virus that infected their systems, and starting with life-support. The decompression should start right about~ now."_

While he couldn't exactly see what was going on in the Cerberus cruiser, he got the news soon from Joker, _"Hey, uhm Shepard, you know that Cerberus cruiser parked outside?"_ He sounded a little curious but also relieved at the same time.

"What about it?"

" _Well just a minute ago, the systems onboard started going offline, starting with life support, but funny thing is, the whole ship is being decompressed right now, and the engines are going offline. The auto-turrets are still on, but I don't think they'll be a problem anymore soon."_

"Wait, are you serious?" Jane was shocked that, "EDI, did you do that?"

"I have been unable to enter the cruiser's systems ever since we have arrived. Their cyber warfare suites have been upgraded substantially since we betrayed Cerberus after the Collector Base."

Well, that left EDI out of things, so then who the hell just gave them a crapton of breathing room? Javik was more of a warrior than a hacker. So all that left was the Chief, whom she was still being surprised by what he was doing. Did he somehow find the chance to hack into Cerberus' systems and disable it? That would have taken a significant amount of skill that surpassed EDI's own. But she had her eyes on him the whole time, and the only time she never watched him in action was…

…was when she was talking with Jack…

"Well, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth," She glanced momentarily at the Chief whom was readying up for the next engagement and kept his eyes forward on the door. "Let's move now while we can, I'd rather not be here if that cruiser gets reinforcements." She opened the door to see cascading waterfalls on the walls that went down into the floors, but they overheard a Cerberus trooper trying to coax some students out of a barrier that they were holding up with a tech pylon. There were three of them, she motioned for EDI and Javik to stay and cover the rear, while the Chief had already had activated his camouflage, Jane took the Black Widow out as she lined up a shot on the left trooper's head.

She whispered into the squad's channel, "Chief, take the one on the tight, I've got the left."

" _Copy that, ma'am."_ No sooner did she say that, the trooper on the left suddenly was spinned around quickly and the Chief deactivated his camo as he brought his combat knife down onto his head, killing the soldier. The standing students were shocked at the bloody display of killing, while the Cerberus soldier found that his head was no longer there.

Who knew?

As she Shepard came up to the chief who simply stared at the students, particularly the one crouched down, the young girl spoke with a bit of timidness in her voice. No doubt after what the Chief just did, "S-stay back. I've got no reason t-to trust you. Not after the last g-guy."

Well, this was perfect in Shepard's mind. Maybe she'd _also_ have to talk with the Chief on brutal taking enemies out in front of friendly civilians. This would take some convincing, until she heard an all too familiar voice from the crouching student that she came to recognize, "The square root of 906.01 is…"

"30.1."

"30.1."

Jane and the Chief said in unison as she looked up to the giant for actually knowing what that was off the top of his head.

Guess he was a math genius as well.

The crouching student revealed himself as David Archer, the survivor of Project Overlord, "Hello, Commander Shepard."

The other student, a young boy turned to ask David, "David, you know her?"

"Yes. She rescued me from Cerberus. Sent me here. She made it quiet." Ever since Jane had sent David to Grissom Academy from Aite, the other students had heard what happened to him, and they did whatever they could to help him recover, physically and mentally. They had grown close to the former living computer and they came to see him as one of their own. The other two students in the barrier looked to each other and nodded in confirmation.

If David trusted this woman, then so would they. They deactivated the barrier s Jane complimented them, "You did a great job of keeping yourselves safe. The biotic students are up there…" She motioned to the upper level where ladder leading up into it, "…stay close, we'll get you out of here."

The students gave their thanks to the squad as they made their way to the other students, but David decided to linger a bit longer. He stood up and they were able to see that he had become much better since Overlord.

"He looks much healthier." EDI complimented. David looked to the mech, and although he didn't recognize it, he remembered her voice and programming, "I remember you. The _Normandy_ computer." He had tried to upload himself into her servers and erase her away to escape the planet, when he couldn't think properly. He looked down in shame a bit before looking back to EDI, "Sorry."

EDI had come to understand that David was not within his right mind at the time, as the Geth consensus had begun to overwhelm him, and influence his decisions, "No apology is necessary."

Jane smiled at that. He had begun to look and act more like his old self when she saw the research recordings, when she was brought into the consensus, "Has Grissom Academy been alright?"

"Yes. I've been counting."

"Anything in particular?"

"The number of days you lengthened my life." He was grateful to Shepard for sparing him the pain of being forced to undergo Overlord again. He had done the math numerous times as Cerberus would have killed him, if he had gone under again.

David turned to the Security Office, and then back to Jane, "The Security Office. I hacked the lock. Guns. Lots of guns. Goodbye." And with that, David went to join the rest of the students.

The Commander was always one to take free guns whenever they came her way. As they entered the Security Office, she saw at least three weapons they could take with them, and many thermal clips for them to restock after the numerous firefights they had been through. Although one could say, a major factor in them still having many clips was due in no small part to the Chief's fighting style.

She eyed the weapons and grinned: an M-397 Ladon heavy weapon, an M-77 Paladin heavy pistol, and an M-11 Wraith shotgun. Weapons that were certainly going to be of use to them in the future. "Alright, let's restock on ammo, and grab the weapons. I'll take the Ladon, Javik grab the Paladin, and EDI, you'll get the Wraith."

Cortana had gone through the files and explained to the Chief what had happened to the poor guy. Cerberus was trying to find a way to avert total war with the Geth, a race of semi-sentient AI's that got a little too smart, too fast and drove their creators away. She continued to explain what happened, as despite his own upbringings, he was not happy with what had been done to him. To Cortana, it sounded almost like Cerberus was trying to create a rough equivalent to a UNSC 'Smart' AI, but very barbaric and crude, that was doomed to fail.

After concluding their business in the office, Cortana had noticed that the rest of the Cerberus forces where making their way to the shuttles. Rather than going through another firefight where the chances of the civilians being killed were growing exponentially, she went through the stations systems to try and seal off all access to the shuttles, but they would need to go fast as they were now trying to get explosives to break through the doors, while an Atlas mech started to pry one open. _"Chief, we need to get moving. The longer we wait, the closer Cerberus forces will get. I'm stalling those onboard the stations still and the cruisers dead, but they're trying to use whatever means they have to get there."_

That was it then, "Commander, all Cerberus forces are converging on the shuttles. The pathways are being blocked, but they will make their way to the shuttles by any means necessary. Recommend we double-time it to the others, now ma'am."

"How do you know that?" Anger and confusion evident on her face, "My armor has tapped into the Cerberus channel after the cruiser was beginning to shut down. The enemy is now using explosives to make their way off-station."

"You know what, just—ugghh! Nevermind, Sanders, this is Shepard." She placed a finger on her ear, "Cerberus is being stalled with the station doors blocking their way to you, have you got the shuttle prepared?"

" _We're ready to go commander, just waiting on you."_

"Alright let's double time it people." The squad ran through the hallways to the shuttle, but as they entered the atrium leading into the main bay, they came across and Engineer was fixing up an Atlas. The Chief had his Magnum ready and took the poor guy's head off, and primed a Plasma Grenade and stuck it onto the pilot's seat. The explosion was certainly something to see once again, but right now time was of the essence. As they came into the room, they saw Kahlee and Jack filing in the rest of the students onto the shuttle, and made their way over into the shuttle room and began boarding it, "Kahlee, take the shuttle's controls."

Jack looked around for someone that had somehow gone missing, "Wait, where the hell's Rodriguez!" An explosion drew their attention as a Cerberus squad broke through the doors, and Rodriguez fleeing for her life. She slid down behind some cover, as she knew if she made a run for the door, she'd be gunned down in an instant. Shepard and Jack ran to the window, with the former trying with every bit of her strength to break the glass, "She need's covering fire!"

Jack on the other hand felt like she was taking too long, "She needs more than tha—hey!" The Chief ran past her, accidentally shoving her and the commander as he charged through the glass and pulled the pin from his last Frag Grenade and tossed it towards two of the Assault Troopers, while he held the Magnum and took don the last one and the Centurion. The Chief picked Rodriguez up by her arm, "Move, now." He said in a commanding voice, as he kept his sights trained on the doorway, scanning for more hostiles. None had shown up as they last of the group filed in and flew out into the vacuum of space.

As they all now sat in the shuttle with the auto-pilot that Kahlee had programmed, Jane pulled Joker up on the comms, "Joker, we flew out on a Cerberus shuttle. Watch your fire."

" _Right I've got you on sensors. Just give me a minute."_

A wave of relief flowed through the shuttle as everyone relaxed, knowing that the danger was over. Kahlee had to thank Jane, "Thank you, Commander. We'd never gotten off that station if you hadn't come." She was afraid that no one would've even come given that Cerberus had interrupted her SOS, but she was glad that someone had gotten it. Jack was breathing in after taking a swig of her water, "F-forget that. We kicked some ass." She looked to each of the students, "Next place we dock, you're all getting inked. My treat." She let a smile grace her face, which normally had a neutral mouth or a frown. A rare thing to see, before Jane had gotten her to come out more, "So what you guys want? Ascension project logo? Glowing fist?" She looked to Rodriguez with a teasing smirk, "Maybe a unicorn for Rodriguez?"

She just smiled as she took it in stride, "Screw you ma'am." A healthy relationship between student and teacher. Kahlee had overseen the students training and academics for so long, and with the war now breaking out, she was concerned for their well-being, "I can't believe we got them all out alive. I was just going to suggest they stick to support roles, but perhaps they're ready after all."

Jane knew that Kahlee was looking to see where she would put them, either in support or the frontlines. When she talked with Jack, she figured it was best that they stick to supporting mainline troops with barrier assist, modding ammo, etc. and she agreed. Although, she wanted to see what the Chief had to say about this.

She looked up to him, as did everyone else who apparently got the subtle message, although he didn't. _"Hey, Mr. Strong 'n' Silent. I think the Commander is asking your thoughts on the matter, and you apparently get the decision."_ That was unusual to him. A commanding officer never asked a lower ranking one, what they should do. It was unorthodox, but then again, what happened to him wasn't. "The war effort will need them in a support role, not on the frontlines. They still have much to learn, but they won't do it with the main forces. It will increase their odds of living to fight another day, significantly." Shepard had figured he would have said they got to the front, but he thought quite like her as she could sense the protective tone in his voice, as he continued on. "You've been trained by the best. But you are young, and you still have much to learn. Don't throw it away for glory, or because you feel undervalued. You are not. Never forget that."

The looks of the students went from frustrated to understanding as they took in his words. They had that feeling of being valued, and bravery. That there was no shame in a support role. Jack saw a couple were still down in the dumps, "If that's where we're needed, then that's where we'll go. Besides, I'm sure we'll still get some shots in, even if we're in the back. Trust me, we'll see some action."

Joker came up with new info, _"Commander, we got a visual on you know. Prepare to dock."_ Deciding to live up to his nickname, _"Hey, Jack. Now that you're military, you gonna wear a uniform? Or are you just getting the officers bars tattooed on?"_

Now see, back in the old days, Jack would've gotten pissed the fuck off and swore up and down the streets, "Screw you f…" But these were the new days, "…flight lieutenant."

John could see where this was going already, and just shook his head at how unprofessional these people were.

Joker, laughed in a bit of shock at what didn't come out of the ex-convict's mouth, _"Uhm…what the hell was that?"_ Kahlee knew an explanation was needed, "Jack promised to watch her language, in order to maintain the necessary professionalism, we need from our teachers." And that was one of the conditions that Jack had to agree when they wiped her record away and offered her the gig teaching.

" _Well does she have a swear jar or something? You know, I bet if we empty that thing we could afford another cruiser."_ Jack just narrowed her eyes, and knew that she was going to punch a hole in the shuttle if she didn't get it out verbally "Cover your ears, kids. Hey Joker, f—"

* * *

-Cronos Station-

"Play it again."

A gray wisp of smoke came from another burned out cigarette, rose into the air with a lazy posture, as if it could go any other way. But the brilliant display of red and orange overtook the gray color emanating from the massive star outside the glass window.

The Illusive Man took a swig of scotch from the glass on his chair and took another puff from the cigarette. He had watched the recordings from Grissom Academy as he needed more able bodies for his army to counter the growing alliance to destroy the Reapers. He knew that odds are Commander Shepard would somehow intervene and try to stop his plans, but he did order his forces to ensure that if he couldn't obtain the students and faculty then neither would the Alliance.

However, they had been denied to him and the Alliance had retaken their best and brightest students, along with Subject Zero and David archer; both of whom would've been extremely useful.

However, his focus was not on Shepard, nor EDI who had hijacked Eva's body, nor was it the Prothean whom he had failed to capture for his own usage. But rather instead, it was on towering humanoid in bulky olive-green armor, and orange visor. For years, he had been convinced that Miranda Lawson was the epitome of Human perfection, then he applied what he knew about her genetics, the results of Project Lazarus, the remnant technology from the destroyed Collector Base, and his own knowledge of the Reapers, to create the perfect soldiers for humanity. He was convinced when his top agent Kai Leng had accepted the implants, even though he knew he was loyal to Cerberus since day one, that he was the best soldier in the galaxy. More so than Lawson or Shepard.

But now that belief was trampled upon. He almost felt insulted.

He had watched how the armored figure had completely destroyed whoever came across him. And he had them beat in every field. His strength, his speed, his armor, his abilities, his weapons, etc.

The armor itself was massive, and bulky, with sharp angles and curvatures here and there, as he took in every detail of the armor. Perhaps this was a new type of soldier that the Alliance had begun field testing in a new breakthrough, something he didn't even know about…no…he stopped that line of thought right there.

He still had agents in the Alliance R&D labs, and the military. There was no shortage of bribes to go around. Some people simply had big mouths. And then of course there were more 'harsh' ways of getting information.

Information was his weapon.

Information was his life blood.

He would've known if the Alliance began something like this, but he also noticed how different in design the armor and weapons were. Nothing at all what he knew of. He was deluding himself into thinking he had been tricked. He had not. There would be no room for thoughts such as that.

An enigma that needed to be solved.

An unknown variable that need to be removed from the equation to subjugate the Reapers.

He closed the recording as he swiped it away and brought a comm-link, "Frost. I want you to accelerate all progress on the Phantom initiative. Begin flagging all Alliance reports regarding Shepard and the Prothean device, that Admiral Hackett is building. I want an update as soon as possible on the remains of Project Phoenix, and have any remaining test subjects turned over to the Dragoon sect. Have all sleeper on the Citadel active, and begin collecting intelligence and recruiting new operatives. Increase the funding on weapons and armor research. I want all progress on genetic and cybernetic augmentation accelerated as well as ship construction. Ensure that all field operatives and soldiers have an increase in difficulty of training, I don't accept failure. Also, have someone bring me a new bottle of scotch. Preferably from my 1956 Scottish reserve."

" _Yes sir. Is there anything else?"_

The Illusive Man looked back to one of the many frozen screens with the mysterious armored man in action, "Contact General Petrovsky. I want an update on the Adjutant project, and ensure that more Rampart Mechs will be constructed for field usage. I want them part of our battalions from now on, as well as Nemesis specialists. Prepare to send a sizable force to Sur'Kesh. I highly doubt that the secret they are currently keeping there will be kept under wraps for long. And we can't have that, now can we."

" _Right away sir."_ The Illusive Man cut the comm-link and motioned his hand to part the images away from the middle of the room, so he could gaze at the astounding view of the star in front of him.

His blue eyes, filled with the thirst for knowledge. He reached out to 'touch' the star as he felt no fear of it. Despite how massive and how old it appeared to be. He was not afraid of the star that could go supernova at any moment. But as he watched the footage from his soldiers of the new member of Shepard's crew, a slight chill moved down his spine.

He brought the images back into focus once more and watched the recordings once more.

"Play it again."

This would mark the seventh time he had watched them all in a row.

* * *

-Earth Orbit-

The harvest had begun.

The Batarian species was shattered first. The destruction of the Relay had only slowed them down.

Inconsequential.

Harbinger gazed down upon the planet that would prove to be the most resistent. Before Nazara had been destroyed. It relayed information back to the rest of their numbers. Humanity would be a thorn in their side as the true Prothean race had once did. Only one race had proven themselves to be powerful enough to resist them.

They resisted. They won.

Retreating through the Dark Space Relay prevented more of their numbers from being decimated.

Now the cycle would continue without their interference, just as it was with the Protheans.

The attention of the first one was drawn to the mind of one of its tools. It held a ping of fear. An emotion that did not faze. It drew upon the tools actions, as it began acceleration on the rest of its own actions, to counter this new variable.

A towering armored giant that proved to be more efficient in combat against the indoctrinated. It was brutal as it was efficient. This new variable would be another organic that would fall and submit. Or it would be destroyed.

" **Activating reserve subjects. Begin preparations for reproduction."**

Within the armada. A single ship lit up. Then two, then three, then five. The ships held no identity that was familiar to this cycle. Save for a few organics.

The loss of the main base at the galactic core was not a substantial loss. It could be tolerated as was the loss of Nazara, the destruction of the Alpha Relay. Their time was infinite. Their patience unyielding. This would simply be another obstacle.

If one were to view the actions of the prime Reaper, one would say it had begun to grow a small bit of fear of this new variable. It would not show fear.

Harbinger received new information.

Many of its brethren where destroyed by unknown ships. Ships that overwhelmed them. Ships that were as large as themselves, other larger. A new variable that would be taken into account. More observation would be needed.

Inside the newly activated ships, the inhabitants stirred and began their activation process.

" **I am assuming direct control."**

Nazara had gathered a sect of a lower AI species to do their bidding for them. But Shepard destroyed many of them. Harbinger had his own thralls begin the reproduction. But Shepard destroyed many of them.

They would obtain the Geth.

He had already millions more of his thralls activated.

The thralls began to walk out of the honeycombed passages of their ships. Misshapen figures hobbled out with their massive biotic shockwave weapons, melded to their arms. Other misshapen figures that attacked and assimilated whatever organic they saw, crawled over the walls, opening the doors for their master's transports to bring newly harvested soldiers for ground battle. Quadruped gatherers began to power up, and devour fresh corpses from the slaughter ships.

The Collectors had returned.

NEXT: THE CITADEL

* * *

 _CODEX ENTRY – MINOR MAWS_

 _While many planets and areas have been quarantined, such as Parnack, the Yahg homeworld, and sections of space such as the Great Maw. There are various nebulas that have been quarantined._

 _These nebula's appear to be black holes on the outside, but instead are a natural camouflage to whatever hides within them. Scientific ships have been sent into these beautiful, but deadly nebulas to investigate what lies within the nebulas. Initial scans have proven to be unsuccessful as Salarian intelligence theorizes that the nebula's special properties prevent scans from coming up as successful._

 _While incredibly rare, Minor Maws have become a fascination with scientists, with the mysteries they hold inside. An exploration mission was sent into around 2183, however the last transmission from the crew was vague, and only responded with what appeared to be distortion of communications, and then a sudden and violent cut-off, resulting in the disappearance, and possible destruction of the ship itself._

 _A rescue attempt was made with a military vessel; however, it too had met a similar fate, and thus the Minor Maws, pre-discovered and newly discovered ones have all been quarantined._

* * *

 _ **Alrighty then, the Chief on his first mission with Commander Shepard has been concluded. New enemies have been brought into play, or are about to be used. When the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer expansions came out, I was rather disappointed that we were unable to acquire the new weapons, or see the new characters in action. Though eventually were able to finally use many of the weapons through buying DLC, weapon and story types. But it ticks me off that not all weapons are available to everyone.**_

 _ **I'm looking at you N7 weapons (Valiant, Crusader, Eagle & Hurricane), and you Collector weapons…stingy bastards.**_

 _ **Anyway, now a small bit of news. Andromeda may end up getting a Quarian ark DLC, as it has been subtly hinted at in recent Andromeda multiplayer background communications. So, have your thumbs crossed that it happens guys! Andromeda needs DLC!**_

 _ **Another thing was the Retaliation and Citadel DLC's for ME3 that introduced us to the Collectors one more, however they were only made simulations or multiplayer enemies, and not story enemies sadly, so I'll be rectifying that.**_

 _ **Also, I recently saw the new Mummy film today. IMO it wasn't really all that bad, as an intro to Universal's Dark Universe of their classic monster films. They will soon be doing The Wolfman, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Bride of Frankenstein (for some weird ass reason; why they don't do Frankenstein first), and The Invisible Man as far as I know, and a question popped up in an interview about a Monseters Avengers film, which would be pretty awesome if done right. So share your thoughts on this, if you'd like.**_

 _ **I'd like to say thank you to those that read and support this story. And I would like to say that I only now need three OC's:**_

 _ **Batarian**_

 _ **Turian**_

 _ **Salrian**_

 _ **If anyone could put any of these OC's forward with the personality description from the last AN, that would be awesome. Be sure to send their background info as well, so I can get a good idea of how they are.**_

 _ **So please continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story as well as my other stories. Until next time :) !**_


	4. Chapter 3 - Downtime

" _Sir, they're gone."_

" _You can drop the 'sir', I'm not your boss anymore, remember? I take the ones you're talking about is the one ONI's been keeping an eye on for the last four years, and the other being the one they secretly supplied with resources?"_

" _Every one of my sources have said their trails have gone cold."_

"' _Mdama and Atriox you mean."_

" _Yes. They've confirmed it. Or at least the sources that still take my calls. Without ONI channels to use, the only people talking to me are those who owe me favors."_

" _They don't need us now, their war's over. Especially since Parangosky was tried for aiding and embedding the Servants, after HIGHCOM and the new President of the UEG ordered a full investigation into ONI and its actions. Forget about it."_

" _Forget about it? 'Mdama and Atriox have assembled their own armies somewhere out there, and we still don't know what either of them is really after. I've got my own theories, but after hearing from my connections on Doisac & Sanghelios, they've become symbols to some of their people, and not the ones that would be good for all of us. To the Jiralhanae, Atriox has become a leader of sorts to some of them, with only the Master Pack's leader Lydus to contend with. While we were fighting the Covenant all those years, and dealing with rebuilding ourselves and repelling the remnants of the Empire, he's been recruiting, growing and gathering his forces. The last time we heard anything after he took the _Enduring Conviction _and its fleets was that the Banished had captured a whole host of Huragok; Forerunner Engineers; you know what those things can do, right? And 'Mdama? The one Spartan-010 brought in? The Servants, except for his own son have condemned him as a heretic and anyone who's followed him. He took a lot of the Servant's resources when 'Telcam's attack on the Arbiter failed when the Infinity rolled in to provide reinforcements. Not only that, but he's also absorbed other Covenant remnants into his 'Storm'. The 'High Zealot' Sali 'Nyon is a major figure on their worship of the Forerunners, and he has a large following. General Parg 'Vol took what was left of his brothers forces from Draetheus V and folded in. Major Vata 'Gajat was major technician and had a number of stealth specialists under his command. General Kitun 'Arach was with 'Mdama since the beginning on that large isolated colony he came across. And Supreme Commander Luro 'Taaralum? Him too. They've all joined 'Mdama and threw in their support and resources to their new crusade. Some search for 'The One'. That's all we know on them. Either way, we still don't know everything about their goals, only their forces size. And both are massive, and major threats to all of us."_

" _Listen, I stopped giving a damn when they cut me out with the investigation. They pull me up on a few shady deals after the disaster with the Spartan-II's controversial bullshit. Goddamn hypocrites. They ask you to get your hands dirty, and then they're too great to shake your hand. The only reason I'm not in a detention cell or dead is the dirt I have on them. Osman's been put in charge of ONI now and reorganizing it, but I don't trust her, she was Parangosky's pet. Me along with some others are safe like Halsey, simply because of what we know. She just got off better than us because she created the Master Chief and her knowledge on all the alien crap is too valuable to throw out the window. If you think the Storm and the Banished are getting to high-level threats, then that's on you to tell HIGHCOM, not me. Let them learn about 'Mdama and Atriox on their own damn free time. Don't call here again, we're done."_

 _-ONI Section Zero Board/Surveillance transcription of internal communications between subject "S" & "D", 03.15.2554 1702 hrs/Full transcript available on request/_

* * *

Chapter 3 – Downtime

- _Normandy_ SR-2 QEC Room-

After the mission on the academy, the _Normandy_ had regrouped with a cruiser from Hackett's fleet to get the students, Jack and Kahlee to work on the Prothean device and into the sidelines of the battlefield. The squad had gotten de-armed and went back to their own duties, while Jane had a little debrief from Anderson from his own QEC in the resistance.

Anderson had changed into a battle uniform for officers on the ground during ops, "Shepard. Dammed if you aren't a sight for sore eyes."

"Good to see you too, sir."

Anderson just rose an eyebrow, "'Sir'?" He teased, "I may have reinstated you, but that doesn't give you permission to go all formal on me." Jane smirked. Anderson looked at her now just as his protégé, but also like is own daughter in a way, "Then I'm glad you managed to keep your ass alive, Anderson."

Anderson's tone changed, "That's more like it." His admiral/teacher persona taking over, "Looks like you didn't waste any time getting to work." He paused as he looked down for a second before looking back at Jane, "I can only imagine what would've happened if those kids had fallen into Cerberus hands."

"They're definitely eager to help." They had been training for artillery strikes, but the Chief's own input had them sent to the supporting sect of the corps. At first, they were not too pleased with the decision. But the Chief had told them not to feel under-valued, and it did placate them to accept the support roles.

Anderson shook his head in disbelief that this was what they're were resorting to, "These kids are the best humanity has to offer. And we're throwing them into battle! Godammit I hate this war… Hackett didn't mention in his report…" Jane sensed what he was asking from her, "Kahlee Sanders is safe with the recruits."

The admiral sighed in relief, "Thanks, Shepard. When I heard about the attack…well…I've already lost a lot of friends."

"She asked me to tell you to, stay alive." Anderson chuckled, "Did she now? Well…thanks Shepard. That might be the first good news I've heard this week." The Reaper war had already taken its toll on the aging admiral. He knew what he would be in for, but no one else did. And it's cost everyone. "I heard how your newest recruit performed."

She wasn't even aware that Hackett had sent him a report detailing how the Chief performed. "Oh?"

"You got lucky coming across him before Cerberus did. Though given how he acts, he doesn't sound all that different from you. A natural born leader, jumping into fire the first chance to save others." He looked over to his right at something, seeing as the little bit of time they had left to communicate was shortening, Anderson let her go. "I have to go. I'll try to check in with you later. Anderson out." And with that, the QEC cut off as Anderson jogged off away.

The commander paid attention to what Anderson said about the Chief. He did put himself up front at all times, and how he conducted himself under her command. Now she was suddenly reminded of her little chat with the Spartan, she was supposed to have.

* * *

-Life Support Room-

Ever since they had retired to the Life Support room after the last mission, the Chief brought up some of the weapons and equipment up to clean and inspect, even going so far as to requisition some of the Alliance weapons. Learning how to adapt whenever necessary was part of his training and combat skills. If one of his own weapons ran dry, then he'd just grab the enemies out of their hands, and kill them with it.

Cortana however, had grown all too interested with this Prothean device that the Commander had found on Mars. From what the Asari a few doors down theorized that it was a weapon that could kill all off the Reapers and spread across the galaxy. Now she wasn't one to put things like that in the back of her head, especially after Halo, she wasn't entirely sure that she could afford to ignore this.

Tapping into the schematics that they had taken from Mars and sent to Hackett, she saw pieces of it strewn out like a jigsaw puzzle. Most likely due to keeping the plans an enigma from the Reapers eyes, though taking a closer look, the pieces were just so…simple.

The amount of power that would be fired would be big, but not Halo array big. Nowhere even close to such a level. It would need something to amplify the energy to spread across the galaxy, she'd have to keep observing it and going through whatever reports, intelligence, emails, vidcalls, etc. to solve that problem, otherwise these people were building a giant metal lightbulb for no reason, when they could just be putting that work to more soldiers & ships. She'd file this away for HIGHCOM as this would be something of great interest to them, and she doubted that they would allow anyone to haphazardly fire this thing like Spark was trying to do during the minor Flood outbreak.

If it came down to it, the UNSC would want it destroyed or risk the end result destroying them all if the Alliance found a way to amplify the device's energy 100,000-fold.

She swam through the systems and data streams of the _Normandy_ , Joker piloting the ship, EDI doing the same thing as she was doing, however she was unable to 'see' the more advanced AI, Traynor flagging and managing systems and Alliance intel. The Turian named Garrus was _still_ calibrating the Thanix Cannons, but he was also helping the Primarch in the War Room coordinate their races forces. Liara was diving into whatever systems she could to get whatever intel and resources she could snatch for the war effort. Although, Cortana had noticed that the Asari was also reviewing footage of the Chief in action, which she could see where her line of thought was going.

Being a scientist, archeologist, xenohistorian and xenobiologist, she was curious of the Chief's origin and where he came from. No doubt she would want to everything about him and the UNSC. As a scientist, she was always hungry for more knowledge for the unknown.

Fat chance of that happening.

Javik was exploring the lower decks, learning about the previous crew, the 'suicide squad' that Shepard lead before, with the Engineers going about their daily routine and chatter. Allers was cutting up articles and interviews together for news segments, which she agreed with the Chief, was a stupid mistake to begin with.

In the shuttle bay, Lieutenant's Vega and Cortez were working through the instructions the Chief had given them to use the fabricator for future use, no doubt already intrigued about the ammunition in the UNSC weapons. The Covenant weapons were another thing entirely, as the materials to fabricate the cartridges for them would be a pain to find.

Cortana was processing the Alliance's history and comparing it with the UNSC's to find similarities between the two Earths, and so far, they both followed the same pattern until about 30 years ago when the Prothean archives were found on Mars, leading to the Alliance's first contact which was schoolyard brawl compared to their own. Looking for genetic abnormalities was difficult given how little access she had to UNSC medical files save for some, but she was able narrow things down. Though she noticed there was a slight abnormality within UNSC humans that made them different from Alliance humans, though they were miniscule; too small for most thing to notice.

As for the Omni-tool that the Chief requisitioned from Cortez, she had been looking into modifying it for the UNSC's usage in the field more for straight up combat, tracking, hacking, etc. coming up with a name for it would be difficult, though she'd let the scientists handle that.

Her sensors drifted back up to the deck with the commander coming down the elevator, _"Heads up, Chief, I think the commander's coming down to have that 'chat' with you she mentioned earlier."_

The Chief had finished reassembling the MA5C within a few seconds, "Acknowledged." He placed the weapon along with a few clips on the nearby shelves as the door slid open with Shepard in her crewman's uniform. "Hey, Chief."

The Spartan snapped a brief salute, "Commander." Jane just waved it off a bit, "At ease, Chief. You don't have salute me or anything. Technically you're not part of the Alliance, so yeah…I'm just making my rounds on the ship, that's kind of my thing after missions to relax and get stress out." She looked around to see that the Chief had been disassembling weapons and analyzing how they work, and he had brought up some more of those weird things he used back in the academy, "Getting used to things around here?"

"Yes ma'am. I requisitioned weapons for observation. Knowing the full capabilities will allow me to counter them more effectively when dealing with Cerberus." He saw how they were kinetic based, but they didn't run off the same principle as their own or the Covenant's. They were effective to a degree, but they were flimsy, poorly designed and manufactured. A single shot from a UNSC rifle to their weapons would render them useless, forcing the owner to find other means of fighting.

"Nice to know, although I couldn't help but notice the whole time back on the academy you clearly are a master of kicking ass and taking names. You never heard about the Reapers or any of the other races, so who did you fight to learn moves like that?" By this time, Liara had entered the room, no doubt curious about the Chief as well given her legal, and not-so legal occupations.

She wanted to know more about the Chief. His people, their government, their practices, history etc. Coming across a human who had no knowledge of the Alliance or the Citadel was a mystery, an enigma waiting to be solved. Although she was kidding herself if she wasn't nervous to approach the spartan, "Hello, I'm…" She saw Shepard had been inside as she overheard the question, "…oh, I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to interrupt you Shepard, I can leave if it's a bad time."

Jane tilted her head over her shoulder as she looked to the Asari, "Nah, it's alright. You could stay, though I don't know if tall, green and bulky here will talk much." She turned back to the Chief and nodded him to answer.

"A hostile alien species, ma'am. Calling themselves the Covenant."

Jane leaned on the side of the wall as she raised a curious eyebrow, "Sounds like some religious cult, you sure you didn't just come across some extremists from our parts?" Despite how peaceful things seemed before the Reapers arrival, there was still instability across the territories with pirates, mercenaries, expanding governments, and extremists. Liara knew many of the groups that existed, and even the minor one's but she had yet to come across any information called the 'Covenant'.

He frowned at that, "The Covenant did not originate from Citadel space." Cortana knew that Shepard was trying to loosen John's lips a bit. Get him to spill something that could be something considered classified, or close to it. And the Shadow Broker currently standing in the same room, no doubt looking for info.

"The Council would offer compensations for attacking you and your people, if it was one of the client races." Liara spoke up, seeing if she could perhaps make it clear that they would help his people.

"The war against the Covenant was against a coalition of alien species. Reminiscent of the Council, but they do not belong to them."

Jane was ignorant of the way he said it, but Liara wasn't. She knew that he fired shots at the Citadel Council. Guess he wasn't too keen on how they operated. The Citadel Council, while was ignorant of the Reaper threat, they had to make decisions and choices that decided the fate of billions and it kept the peace for the last 2000 years.

Cortana hadn't known the Chief to take jabs like that, the Council clearly rubbed him the wrong way in all sorts. It reminded him too much of the Covenant, though without the religious zealotry behind it. The Council was clearly a step up from their own individual governments and they were composed of the four main species, though other client species could join, but they had to do something noteworthy to join. Humanity had only recently joined due to sacrificing tens of thousands of their own, and they were practically swept aside when the Council denied any Reaper existence, even when one was about to kill them. Other races that had been around longer were not happy that Humanity had gained a seat, while they had been waiting hundreds to thousands of years to get a seat. Not only that, the Treaty of Farixen had severely limited every other species military power, leaving themselves vulnerable to others, practically at the Council's mercy. It was meant to keep peace, but the Chief saw it as a way to keep fear in others. Even humanity, despite having a seat, were considered second-rate and below other client species, given how the other councilors brushed off their concerns and reports that Earth was attacked before anyone else in Citadel space. And given what Shepard told him beforehand, he held no trust for them at all.

The Alliance should've remained independent and aliens had no right to dictate how Humanity functioned, or acted. They should just keep their noses out of their business and lives.

Jane pressed for further details, "How big was this war?"

"A total war."

Liara was curious as to why the Covenant had declared a war against his people, "What exactly did this 'Covenant' had to gain from going to war with you?"

He looked at the Asari, not believing that she was trying to be genuine, despite the contrary, "Total annihilation of humanity." He wasn't going to talk about the specifics or the numbers involved. He didn't want either of the women to start thinking about making contact with his civilization or trying to establish a dialogue with what was possibly left of the Covenant.

Jane scowled while Liara looked a little skeptical, "Why the hell would hell would they try to exterminate you? That doesn't make any sense." She was no fan of genocide.

"I'm…not quite sure what to make of that. They would've had to of possessed a massive military that would outnumber the Reapers."

Cortana had already run the numbers. If the Covenant had encountered the Citadel instead of the UNSC and went to war with them…well…the Reapers would be dealing with them instead, and she wasn't too sure about their own odds against the Covenant. The fleets that the UNSC had encountered were only just small bits of the full might of their empire, she stopped counting at _High Charity_ when the numbers hit the 1 million mark. Shepard dug for more details, "Who long was this war going on? It's not still being fought…is it?"

Another considered classified answer.

"A long time, ma'am. It's over."

Liara was typing something on her Omni-tool, no doubt what he had been saying, while Shepard looked a little relieved, "Good to hear. Well you're still hear, so I guess the Covenant failed in the grand scheme of things."

The Chief lowered his head, "Partially…"

The casualties before _his_ Earth had been hit were within the 24 billion mark, another possible 9 billion on Earth. All victims of the Covenant's 'Great Journey' as they were declared abominations in the eyes of their gods.

Jane noticed Liara was doing that thing her hands did when Javik had joined them, "Liara here, is probably itching to ask you some questions about your people."

The scientists jumped in, "Yes, I'm curious, what kind of government does your people have. How is it that you're human but you've never heard of the Alliance of the Citadel? When did you achieve—"

"No."

Liara raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry?"

"You ask for classified information. That is in violation of Cole Protocol. I will not answer any of your questions."

Liara was shot down quickly with her questions. She was hoping for some understanding, maybe even hoping to create a link between the Chief's civilization and the Alliance. Jane saw that Liara was a little miffed even if she didn't fully show it, "Wait, hold on. Liara's just curious about you and where you come from, that's all. Plus, we do kind of need to know where your people are at if I'm gonna get you back home."

"She is not entitled to that information." The Chief decided to end the whole conversation as he turned around to pick up a BR55 to disassemble and clean, Liara just had that same look on her face when she left Javik's quarters, while Shepard just sighed. "You know, Chief. She isn't a bad person, Liara's just curious, that's all. Also, another thing…why did you call Liara an 'alien life form'?"

"Trust is earned, not given." He began to quickly take the rifle apart and lay the pieces out in an orderly fashion as he started to clean it. Jane watched him handle the rifle parts with care and looked engrossed in his work, "Cole Protocol dictates that no alien life form may inadvertently discover the location of the homeworld. Her occupation as the Shadow Broker does not make her trusting."

If he turned to look at the Jane's expression, he would see the wide eyes she had on, "H-How did you learn about that?!" He shifted his helmet over just enough to be considered talking to her, "Your Extranet is vast and vulnerable. UNSC databases are more advanced." A half lie; Cortana had gotten into the Asari's information network easily and slipped out with no one noticing. The UNSC's systems were more secure, but then Covenant systems were even more so. And they hardly even used AI's.

"Ok, I really~ need to make sure you don't go breaking into high-level systems and other people's personal stuff…" It was no secret to Garrus, Tali, EDI and Joker, knew that Liara was the new Shadow Broker after helping her track him down.

' _Too late.'_ He thought. Cortana was bored out of her mind when she sorted through the Commander's personal terminal. Of all the people to be planning a vacation to Disney World on Earth…

Shepard shook her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose, fighting off the headache that this conversation brought. "So, out of curiosity, have you ever failed a mission?"

"Never."

Jane blinked once, then twice as she decided to clean out her ear a bit, "I'm sorry I might've misheard you, but did you say you've never failed a mission in your entire military career?" Cortana giggled at her reaction. It was almost like a deer in headlights.

"Yes, ma'am."

She had a puzzled and curious combo look on her face now, "And have you ever had a superior officer…be alright with the way you fight?"

"Yes."

"That's…weird, but also, kinda cool a bit…I guess…"

He wasn't lying about that. When in the field and he had his orders, he followed through with them even in the most unorthodox ways, never had a superior officer question him about his combat conduct, or his tactics when fighting. Most of the time when with a superior officer in the field, they often let him take point and handle most situations in a firefight. Hardly anyone save for a few individuals would question a Spartan in battle.

The commander breathed in and held it for a bit before exhaling heavily, "Well you know your limits better than I do. So, I guess I'll let this slide a bit, _but_ …" She put an emphasis on the word, "…I want you to make sure to stick with the team. You can handle a lot of things on your own, and you're a damn walking tank that's on speed, but going off runnin' & gunnin' without letting me know isn't something I like in the field. So just be sure to keep in contact with me, and let us know if anything comes up for us to use. If you can handle it better on your own, then go right ahead, but let me know beforehand."

The Chief listened to the Commander talk, and once again it was more in his favor. Shepard would let him off the leash in combat, provided he keep her informed of any intel he came across and stay in contact with her team. "Also, that stuff you used on Seanne, what was that exactly?"

"Medical Biofoam. Self-sealing, space-filling coagulant and antibacterial, tissue regenerative foam polymer." He didn't think there was any harm in telling her that, it was pretty much an over-the-counter product available to the general public.

"That's a mouthful…we don't have anything quite like that. Any chance maybe you could pass some of it along…?" She was trying her best to use words that could get her somewhere, "Maybe see if we can improve it with our own Medi-gel, and vice versa?" She really did her best, but she sounded skeptical all the way. She silently facepalmed thinking she failed, but to her surprise…

"So long as the UNSC will be able to utilize the development, then yes."

She was not expecting that, "Well I don't see why your people can't use it too." The Chief wasn't really looking at her, and concentrating on cleaning the rifle on the table. Seeing she had a chance to do something, she turned around and did her hands like a kid got their favorite toy for Christmas and silently whispering yes at the same time. She made some progress with the hulking man, however… "The development will not leave this ship."

And there was that. Well beggars can't be choosers. She turned around to see that he had turned to her, although she had no idea if he saw her do that little victory min-jig, "Well… I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, or sniper down the barrel, er… whatever saying that applies to this." She clapped her face a bit which perplexed the Spartan before speaking again, "We're heading to the Citadel for a quick resupply. Then to the diplomatic ships for the War Summit, it shouldn't be too long now actually, come on up to the bridge for a view, I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it." And with that the Commander headed back up to the bridge whilst waving her hand to follow her up. _"Just go with her, besides I want to see what the Citadel looks like on the inside from the suit."_

Cortana wasn't really impressed with the station, but she was intrigued on how they were keeping logistics going, given the vast intake of war refugees.

* * *

-The Bridge-

"So, what do you think of Hardcore Henry down in Life Support?" Joker's new nickname for the Master Chief after seeing footage of him in action from EDI's own visual logs.

"He is highly efficient in combat; however, he displays what one would consider mild sociopathic tendencies." His AI co-pilot had deduced from her own observations and codex on human behavior.

"So, we should worry about him snapping, and killing everyone on board in case someone just, oh I dunno know… looks at him the wrong way or starts pointing fingers as to who stole his munchies?"

"No. That would be partially a psychopath. Sociopaths are of a different mindset. They do not engage in social activities."

Joker was having his usual conversations with people around the ship, and the Chief was apparently the major talk after the academy mission, "So then he's as emotional as an Elcor playing in Hamlet."

"I cannot say as I have had little interaction with him. However, I wish to inquire more on his skill in cyberwarfare as I find it difficult to believe that a human was able to force me from this mobile platform and force a Cerberus cruiser systems to shut down, killing the crew and accessing data from his armor. No system is as advanced as that."

If Joker was a little jealous that his…friend…was outdone he didn't show it all that much. "There's gotta be some sort of trick for him to do all that."

"The Master Chief will more than likely respond with a 'classified' answer as opposed to giving a direct response."

"Right on the money EDI." Shepard's voice coming up from behind them. Joker turned his chair around like he usually does while talking with the Commander, "So is he—WHOAH!" Turns out he was a little afraid of their newest crewmate. The Chief stood over Jane like a tower, one could say he looked like he could crush her head with his hands. "Sheesh, put a bell on or something man." He looked down to see that the Chief was still in his armor, and he figured that he had to have made some major sounds while he walked, a lot more than Grunt at the least. And yet, he didn't even hear him come up behind them to the bridge.

"So~ you're the Chief…" An awkward silence loomed through the cockpit, "…how do you go to the bathroom in that thing? Is it like Tali's or something…?" The Chief just stared at Joker, who got the subtle message for him to shut up now and get back to piloting the ship, "…I'll just be flying the ship. So we don't crash…shutting up now." Joker swiveled the chair right back around to the controls as they started to exit FTL speeds and the Serpent Nebula came into view.

Jane looked up the Chief's polarized visor, "I figured you'd like having a good view of the Citadel when we come in. The cockpit gets the best view of it while we pull into the docking bays."

As they flew closer to the nebula, the five arms of the wards came into view, with hundreds of ships flying around the station. The millions of lights showing the vast urban metropolis branching across the station from the petals to the hollow ring, where the tower laid in the center of the station. Joker saw this as a chance to boast to the Chief, "Impressive, isn't it?" Everyone that saw the Citadel for the first time was always amazed when they saw it. Ashley and Kaiden's expressions were priceless when they saw the fleet then and now guarding it, with the station working to full functionality.

"No." He wasn't impressed by this. _High Charity_ was gargantuan compared to this thing.

"I know I still get excited when I see it." He hadn't even registered what the Spartan just said, although the Commander arched a curious eyebrow. "The largest artificial station in the galaxy, made possible by 45 kilometers of cooperation and—what, did you just say no?"

"He did." EDI said.

"Yes."

"Ok, care to elaborate? What could be bigger than the Citadel?" Joker sounding pretty skeptical of what he was saying, and implying.

"10,000-kilometer diameter station, equaling to over 30,000-kilometer circumference." If he wasn't wearing the helmet, they could've seen the ever so small smirk at their reactions.

Joker started cough as some of his own saliva went down the wrong way, while Shepard's eyes were wide as can be with her jaw dropped.

" _I think you broke them."_ Cortana saw their reactions while EDI's processors started working overtime trying to run simulations of such a station, to so far, no success given her knowledge of other stations in their society. If they saw the Ark, then she had no doubt that they would faint or drop from the sight of it in shock.

"What the hell…how can a station be that big?"

"Th-that's a joke, right?"

"No."

Now Shepard had a swarm of questions swarming around in her head, "Why the hell would someone build something so big? They didn't happen to leave some sort of instructions or a map of the place, did they?"

They did, even a caretaker to walk them through on eradicating all life in the galaxy. After their report to HIGHCOM and before Earth was hit, the existence of the Forerunners had been labeled a secret to the public, with only bits and pieces leaking to the media of an ancient and long-dead race in the galaxy. But as the war drew closer, the evidence was undeniable and they came forth with the Forerunners existence. However, the Halo Array and the Flood was kept above top-secret, only known to high ranking officers in the military, and anyone who tried to inform the public was threatened with treason as all in the military were sworn to secrecy. If the civilian populace found out, then there would be mass riots and panics ensuing, and endless chaos would allow the Covenant the victory they so desired.

"Classified."

"Right~…classified, again."

As Joker brought the _Normandy_ into the crowded docking bays, Garrus and Liara were talking with each other in the elevator, "So what do you think of our new cremate, Liara?"

Her expression wasn't what one would say excited or positive, more along the lines of annoyed, mixed with some discomfort, "He's not what I expected to be honest. I tried to ask him about his people, since Shepard intends to take him back to them once this is all over, he said I wasn't entitled to that information and it was a violation of some 'Cole Protocol'." She rubbed the side of her arm like she always did when she grew uncomfortable with someone or something, "I get the feeling that he doesn't have any interest in trying to be friendly with the rest of the crew."

"Hey…" Garrus put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "…just give him some time. Try not to be so forceful when asking questions. Just show that you're on his side, throw a few jokes out there, take some shots in the dark. He'll come around I'm sure of it." He knew during his time on the suicide crew that even bullheaded people like Miranda eventually became more friendly and open to things and people as time went by.

Oh, if only he knew…

Liara turned to Garrus, "You mean like a psychotic biotic or tank-bred Krogan?" A smirk growing in her face, since she knew 'things' nowadays. "Pretty much."

The elevator chimed as they walked out to the CIC, and made their way over to the airlock where the Chief stood over Shepard, even missing the Chief's comment about the Citadel. As the ship came through docking procedure and the crew started to get ready to disembark save for a few, Garrus decided to take the opportunity to introduce himself to the Spartan.

The Chief sensed someone coming up behind him and turned to see the Turian casually walking up to him with an outstretched hand, "Hey, Chief. We never got the chance to get introduced to one another." His voice filled with a bit of enthusiasm, "Garrus Vakarian, Shepard and I go way back when things started, same with Liara here." He gestured with his shoulder next to him.

Liara looked up at the polarized for a second before turning her attention back at the still outstretched hand that Garrus put out there. The Chief just stared at it in uncertainty, on one hand, he didn't want to offend his future ally, and on the other, he refused to shake the hand of an alien species that attacked humanity when it wasn't even aware of laws that didn't even apply to them.

Garrus got the subtle message and lowered his hand before scratching the side of his face where the old scars were at, "So yeah, that was meant to be an introduction like Jane puts it, or so she says."

"I have observed that some organics do not need such a gesture to introduce themselves." EDI brought up some information in a slight defense to the Master Chief not taking Vakarians hand.

Jane tapped the Chief's shoulder, "Well, now that we've gotten some intro's out of the way, I believe that we each some sort of business on the Citadel and we need to resupply. Chief, you'll be with me since you aren't obviously going to hand over your sidearm to C-Sec." She saw that he had the pistol along with a few clips attached to his armor.

"Affirmative."

With the _Normandy_ now docked and ready for the crew to disembark, the made their outside with Garrus and Liara the last ones out, "Still think you can get him to come around?" The skepticism present in her tone.

"It was just one little intro…" He took mock offense to her question, "…besides it's not like he's just going to get friendly with everyone just like that. There'll be plenty other times to crack a joke and get him all campfire songy." And with that, they entered the Citadel.

* * *

-The Chief-

" _Wow, now this is an interesting sight."_

Cortana looked at the sight of the docking bay populated with various different species as well as humans, going about their daily lives in wartime. Humans, Turians, Asari, Salarians, some Batarians here and there, even a few Hanar and their Drell bodyguards were going about their business, it was the polar opposite of what he saw in _High Charity_. He had to suppress the urge to pull his magnum out and gun the aliens down as he did in the war when he encountered Covenant, but they weren't actively hostile towards him…at the moment…

It was a sight he never would have thought he would see. An impossibility of humans and aliens just living together without a care in the world, and not staring at each like they would stab the other in the back. He looked out to the docking bays flooding in with refugees and ships, arrests being made for illegal products and fights over rations, shelter and clothing. These people weren't even ready to face an enemy that wanted to see them dead as opposed to being conquered. Case in point: the UNSC would have been better prepared and equipped to go to war with the Reapers if they had the time to rebuild from the pyrrhic victory against the Covenant.

" _It's not every day that you don't see a place like this with humans not getting shot at by aliens."_

"Hm."

" _You know, you could've come here without your armor on, caveman."_

"The primary HUB for political, economic and now military power in this part of the galaxy, where it was attacked by a single Reaper and almost captured, and then followed by a biological attack by the Batarian Hegemony?" He asked with a raised brow.

"…"

"…"

"… _so~ I'm going to see what can sate my curiosity for the time being."_ Well he did catch her there, no denying it. _"I'll just be seeing if I can put any 'suspicious' credits to a new shadow account for us to use."_

"Cortana…" He had a condescending tone. He didn't want her to get him or the commander into any trouble from officials and draw any unwanted attention to him. _"Oh please, don't worry, I know every little dirty trick and their systems are so…primitive compared to our own for the most part. I won't go starting an investigation or crash their stock market if that's what you're implying what might happen. They won't even know I was there."_

Well he did trust her as much as any Spartan, Halsey, Mendez or anyone else he considered to be a close friend, "…okay."

His attention was brought back to the commander as she called out to him, "Come on, Chief. I need to get C-Sec to clear you through security checkpoints, and so they don't accidentally sign their death warrants for holding you up." Jane waved over to her direction, as an insectoid-like alien walked by her and began working on a console. He followed her over to the C-Sec booth as people, both human and alien glanced over to him and looked at him with a bit of fear, awe and amazement.

Looks that he was all too familiar with beforehand.

The commander was talking with a C-Sec guard, a Turian to be exact as he seemed to be the one in charge of the checkpoint, "So is there any chance you can get my big friend here a pass on carrying a sidearm? He won't leave without it, practically attached to the damn thing like a Krogan and his shotgun." She gestured to the Chief behind her as the Turian did a once over look with some wide eyes, but he kept his surprise under control with an admiring whistle.

"Well, so long as you like babysitting him, he's free to keep it. Just make sure he doesn't accidentally shoot someone, he looks a little antsy." He glanced over at the towering Spartan again, "Can't see any reason why though, they'd be pretty stupid to get in a fight with someone built like a tank." The C-Sec officer punched up for the Chief to have clearance as Jane brought her Omni-tool up to view his 'papers' per say.

Having that Spectre authority came in handy when getting through customs. She could get just about anyone or anything through.

The usual Alliance data was made up for him for anyone that asked questions, granted he wouldn't consider answering any question, and giving them the silent-but-deadly-don't-fuck-with-me stare instead. Or… he would just shrug his shoulders…

Cortana had been diving through the so called 'most secured database in the galaxy', and she was looking at the state of the galactic market which was in a constant flux of rising and falling, war profiteering off the meekly people, which she would be fixing right now with the digital transactions of rip-offs. Their security was a joke, combing through files, putting out firewalls when they weren't looking, etc.

If someone wanted to take this station they wouldn't need to be very skilled, or rather an AI wouldn't need to be very skilled to crash their comms, hijack control over the major systems and depressurize high population zones. Well, she'd fix that right up now. _"Let's see here…a few firewalls here, some malware there, a dash of EMP backup system coding everywhere, Oh!"_ She strode over to the communication lines and wrote up a whole new set of E-comm lines, built up from the digital ground and made only accessible from their clean-cut Commander, _"Aaaaand…there! All done. He'll thank me later."_

But then there was a certain VI being passed around the Citadel for moral boosting, "Hi! I'm Commander Shepard!" Cortana just looked at the VI programs with a devious smile, _"Mua, ha, ha…"_ Oh the joy she would take in this.

* * *

-The Chief & the Commander-

Meanwhile with the duo currently walking around the Citadel, Jane was trying to show the Chief the Citadel's sights, major places to go and the places to avoid. Mainly Chora's Den and other less than savory areas of the station. But she decided to bring him up to Huerta Memorial, "Alright, Chief, time for you to meet my XO and friend."

"Lieutenant Commander Williams?"

"Yeah, Ash and I go way back when I first became a Spectre." He had read up on the files that had been compiled on her first few missions when the Reaper threat began to emerge. Then her rank was Gunnery Chief and part of the Alliance platoon stationed on Eden Prime who joined up with Shepard's mission and hunt for Saren. Although she didn't aide the Commander in her mission to stop the Collectors, she did stay true to the Alliance and moved up the ranks breaking the so called 'Williams Curse' which plagued her family since her grandfather was forced to surrender to the Turians in the First Contact War, which was incredibly tame in comparison to the First Battle of Harvest, and that was only a single Covenant warship manned by a skeleton crew of Brutes accompanied by Grunts & Drones, up against the entire Colonial Militia of the planet, all of which were seasoned and fresh boots, co-led by his old friend Sgt. Johnson, and half of them were wiped out along with civilian casualties in the 23,000 mark.

They rode an elevator up to the Presidium ring where the more high-class civilians resided at, along with dignitaries, politicians, ambassadors, etc. including people who held military connections and were able to get a step up to better places, even medical facilities.

As they stepped out of the elevator, he looked around the place and felt a bit of dark nostalgia of the structure: Halo. Its appearance was very similar not just on the outside, but metaphorically on the inside as well in a way. Where both had beautiful and lush gardens with crystal clean water, and fresh smelling botanical life, they were just facades to cover up the ugly truths. With Halo, it hid the fact that it was a weapon just waiting to go off and kill everything in the galaxy. With the Citadel, it was more of a show of political power to convince and persuade others to give into their demands and get access to one's technology for the 'betterment' of the galactic community.

More like enslavement and disaster in the Chief's mind. Just with a bow tie instead of a whip.

They walked through the doors into the patient lounge where several soldiers and civilians were being treated for wounds, missing limbs and others with illness. There wasn't a large influx of people so far, but it was still early in the war, and a single battle could change the amount of room available in this hospital. As he followed Jane through the lounge, he noticed a few scanners coming from the ceiling and a minor alarm went off as he came under scan. A few of the hospital staff looked up and took one look at the Chief with bit of fear and surprise in the faces, most likely worried that he was a gunman about to kill someone in their care, until Jane rose her hands up in a calming manner, "It's ok, it's ok, he's with me. Don't worry he's a friend of mine."

She glanced over to the Chief who didn't seem tense at all, but he did have his hand right on the Magnum ready to pull it off and pop someone's head off, although he pulled it away as she diffused a rising situation.

The Chief kept his Magnum ready to unlock should someone get the wrong idea as he followed Jane through the hallways to the ICU wing where he saw the Lt Cmdr, still bruised up from their encounter with Cerberus on Mars.

She turned to door knowing that it was Jane walking through, since her doctor had just gone over her status with her a few minutes ago, "Hey, Commander, I was—woah…" Then she saw the tall as hell armored suit next to Jane who was just grinning like the Cheshire Cat from Wonderland, "Ash, I'd like you to meet our newest crewmember for whole war, the Chief." She was slowly getting kicks from people who looked at him for the first time. He gave a curt salute to her XO, "Ma'am."

Ashely just looked back and forth between the two for a bit, "Ok, spill."

* * *

-The _Dawn_ -

The ship was silent ever since the fusion core was taken off the timer, however that all changed as a ship docked with the wreckage. The inhabitants began their process of setting up, and it looked at them with hunger for their flesh and knowledge.

From the way they talked and acted, they were both scientists and military. They were ignorant of the danger as it intended for them to become relaxed and off guard when the time came for consumption and assimilation. These other species would be itchy, tasty snacks before the full course of their homeworlds would be in its maw. But the enemy would return to see if its protocol was fulfilled, or if word got back to them that their ship did not self-destruct as it should have.

For now, it would observe and see if the ancient enemy would do anything, watching the ship just as it did. Most likely _he_ would not act as they were still primitives that were preserved, that he did not care much for, but neither hated them. Though there was no doubt that the enemy would return to destroy the ship themselves.

Emotions were but a feeling those it consumed felt. The only thing that it felt was hunger and rage.

Ragee would do just fine. And Rage was all it would have for now for the enemies that would come its way,

* * *

-Cortana-

The little AI was watching the funny conversation in Williams' room at the hospital, but she was looking more at some old security vids and local news reports circulating the extranet, concerning the Quarians.

" _Quarian pilgrim Jen'Volan nar Neema on the Citadel received a large credit transfer from the Migrant Fleet. Jen'Volan purchase tech, including high-end weapon mounts and Kinetic Barrier emitters, from several ship service centers. On Illium, another Quarian pilgrim, unidentified, was observed searching for a ship traveling: 'close to the Perseus Veil'. The pilgrim was later heard saying that his pilgrimage was recalled. Data suggests that the Quarian fleet is withdrawing its pilgrims and upgrading ships for combat somewhere near the Perseus Veil. This could be a reaction to the Reaper invasion, but no formal offer or request has come. Intel suggests the Quarians may instead be preparing conflict with the Geth."_

This was proving to be interesting and yet very stupid all at the same time. From what she gathered on the Geth and the Quarians it would prove to be a disaster in the making soon. Looking at the history of the two she wouldn't be surprised either, the Quarians created the Geth as to be a cheap labor source of VI's, and after doing some tweaking here and there with their coding and processing units which were pretty impressive if she said so herself. Their connections became more complex and interwoven with the units and became borderline Dumb AI level of status but started gaining sentience and began asking questions about their existence.

The Quarians got jumpy without doing any lengthy research, thinking they just created a slave race as opposed to machines that held a single function and tried to exterminate them. The Geth rose up and drove them from their homeworld and colonies beyond the Perseus Veil, forcing them to become vagrants moving from cluster to cluster for resources to survive since the 'ever-so-gracious' Citadel Council refused to help them with their situation, going so far as to revoke the embassy on the Citadel and further isolating them and enforcing AI laws concerning their research ban and signing a treaty into not provoking the Geth. Their weak immune systems were also something that made them more vulnerable and being forced to live in suits their entire lives was rather sad. And that gave her a new little side project to work on

They were idiots to think that the Geth were true AI's like herself and the Dumb AI's, and the benefits of having AI's outweighed the supposed risks that came with it. "They really need to do some actual research into this field, they might've been able to get a lot of things done faster and advanced their tech by decades to even centuries…what a shame."

The only company that was licensed to do any research concerning synthetics was Synthetic Insights, and they barely made any progress in the field for the last 80 years, and even after Saren attacked the Citadel, the company's rep didn't go all too well with no one being hired, well except when the commander managed to 'convince' a manager on Illium to hire a Quarian girl needing a job.

Cortana had been spending so much time compiling the data, sorting through it and organizing through whatever that would be delivered back to the UNSC, she noticed a few small runtime glitches in her own system that were popping up every now and then. They weren't too major but she would be watching and fixing it the next time they came around. She had been holding it together for quite some time now, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before John started seeing the tell-tell signs of her degeneration and erratic behavior, she no doubt would be developing in the coming months. She could keep it together long enough to get him back home and end the Reaper threat. After that, she would be content with her fate in the end. She had done quite a bit in her lifespan, and she had no regrets…she was glad she picked the right one.

She put her attention back with the Chief as they were now finishing up with the restock and trip to the Citadel and making their way to the war summit.

* * *

-The Chief-

After heading back to the _Normandy_ and getting resupplied, Shepard wanted to talk with him on the upcoming war summit in his quarters after everyone was back aboard and their destination set. He was cleaning up the room after putting the weapons and equipment in proper order as the commander came through the door, "Hey, Chief." She leaned up against the wall

"Ma'am." He finished cleaning up the M6D as he placed it on the desk next to a few ammo clips, "Alright Chief, we're heading to the war summit over in the Annos Basin, with Primarch Fedorian. The rest of the Citadel governments will already be there, and Admiral Hackett and I will be there to represent the Alliance. Even though Hackett'll be in the meeting through a QEC, I'll need you to help out with security. Especially with the Krogan now in the summit."

The Chief knew that the Council races and the client races would be in attendance, but he didn't know about the Krogan since they were demilitarized and their embassy revoked. The Genophage was something that was no different from the Covenant's genocide against the UNSC, and while he was no fan of aliens, he could sympathize with the Krogan to certain a degree, "Will the summit be in danger from a blood rage attack from the Krogan delegation?"

Jane gave an exasperated sigh, as she gave the 'so-so' handle signal, "Maybe, maybe not. Honestly…I'm just hoping things go well since a lot of people still aren't fans of the Krogan, namely the Salarians. The Dalatrass doesn't think to fondly of them, and I'm hoping Tevos can keep her calm when the talking gets tough. And it _will_ get tough right down to the boney core of the meaty goodness of political bullshit, so fingers crossed that things will go smoothly." So, she was worried that the Salarians and the Krogan would get into a shootout and then the war effort will fall apart, more or less. He read up on the Krogan's biology and anatomy, and with the way they were in combat, he would put them somewhere within the Elite-class of enemy. He would've gone with Brute-class, although after seeing the simulations that Cortana showed him of Krogan's against Brute's, the Brute's were still winning against them, with Elite's above them most of the time and some of the time they won.

However, Cortana also brought something up, _"Guess the Quarians didn't get an invite, or they got one but didn't respond."_

"What of the Quarians? Will they be attending the summit?" Another race he could somewhat sympathize with. He was curious since they possessed the largest fleet in this Mass Effect side of the galaxy, and more ships never hurt in large engagements, thinking back to the Covenant war and how lop-sided things went when they didn't have the numerical advantage against a technological advanced enemy, and he saw the parallels with the Reapers against these people. The Commander shook her head, "Unfortunately, the Quarians won't be at the summit. I've been trying to see what's been going on with them, and so far, only a few things with Quarians heading back to the Migrant Fleet, nothing much else. But I've got a bad feeling, things are about to get a lot more complicated than they should with them and the Geth."

She shook her head back when she first met the admirals of the fleet. Gerrel was pretty anti-Geth and was all for war against them, Xen was all too eager to get the Geth back under their control seeing how the weird as hell admiral/scientist did surgery on a stuffed animal when she was younger, Korris was a Geth sympathizer and didn't want war with them, and Ran didn't really have the best spine, despite how kind she was. If it came down to a vote, Korris would lose along with the rest of the pro-Geth minority, and it wouldn't be long before shit hit the fan with the Reapers bearing down on them both while being crippled from their own fighting.

She wondered just how Tali would be dealing with things…

She just shook her head, "Well anyways, we'll be there in a few hours and then we get down to the political politicking of bullshit and then actual action against the Reapers…" She propped back up and started walking back to the elevator, "…until then, just get some rest. I'll be sure to get you the VIP list and study up on it. I'll leave you to it then."

"Yes, ma'am."

He turned the laptop on as he delved more into the recent news broadcasts and some of the tapped military channels and reports Cortana had gotten into to further, _"You know, I got to say, she's a bit more relaxed than most other military commanders with how nonchalant she is with her crew and squadmates."_

"She's…unusual."

" _Which isn't a bad thing. I mean come on, you didn't notice how much fun she was having with her XO? She couldn't stop smiling so mischievously."_ He did admit that she was certainly more carefree in downtime, while in the field she was just as professional as any UNSC soldier, and it was an interesting change of pace for him to have such a commander, _"Oh! And I can't wait to see how she'll react to that VI of herself now after I did some work on it."_

"Cortana, what did you do?" He was not liking what she was implying in annoying their temporary commander. _"Nothing so bad, just a few new added catch phrases and lines to make people's lives a bit more enjoyable with humor and stupid one liners."_

"…"

"…"

"Ok." He just went back to cleaning the weapons as the VIP list came up for him to study, while the commander up in her cabin was now being introduced to a few new lines from the VI, _"Hi, I'm Commander Shepard, and I want you to help imprint my boot on the ass of each and every Reaper and indoctrinated dumbass in the galaxy. And yes, I'm also talking to you Timmy and you flunkeys in Cerberus, you're getting your imprints soon."_

The commander just stared at the VI that was circulating the extra that got a massive boost suddenly with 200 new lines on it, "…" She just smirked a bit at the genius who did this, "Let's see what else you've got."

" _Remember kids, don't go down shady as hell alleyways, without a battle-buddy, and be sure to pack some of those amazing devices like the Predator. Just point, shoot and then they'll be talking to whatever god they worship in an instant."_

Now she frowned, "Ok, I gotta get this altered." She tried to see if she could do it to the one she currently had with her Omni-tool, then got a smartass response as the VI just waged its finger at her with a smartassey smirk plastered on its digital face, _"Ah, ah, ah…you didn't say the magic word."_

"…screw you too."

NEXT: SUR'KESH

* * *

 _CODEX ENTRY – GHOST SHIPS: Ghost ships have been a myth among the galactic community for centuries, however in the past 35 years, more sightings of Ghost Ships have been sighted within isolated areas of the Terminus Systems, the Attican Traverse and Inner Council Space, all primarily near the Great Maw. Many ships that have reportedly seen these Ghost Ships have been destroyed leaving only their black boxes for retrieval and have been barely recoverable due to large amounts of what the Alliance calls 'Cherenkov Radiation'._

 _The only information recovered most of the time has given exaggerated ship sizes ranging from twice the size of a Turian dreadnought to five-kilometer monster sized ships. Such ship sizes are practically impossible to design and create due to cost efficiency and Eezo quantities that are comparable to the Citadel's Mass Effect engine._

* * *

 _ **This chapter was shorter than the others as we've all seen just how the Chief sees and goes about with the Citadel in other stories, and I didn't feel like we needed to do too much with this chapter as it's more of an interlude than part of the main story.**_

 _ **Now I've gotten each of the previous OC's that I requested from my previous AN, and they have been finalized, although if you still have some I'd like to hear about them. And now I'm looking for some new OC's for a future title that will be with the other OC's I requested and I'll be needing these specific ones –**_

 _ **N7 Fury**_

 _ **N7 Demolisher**_

 _ **N7 Shadow**_

 _ **N7 Paladin**_

 _ **N7 Destroyer**_

 _ **N7 Slayer**_

 _ **Same thing with these OC's, what are their names, gender, age, backstory and personalities. Don't hesitate to either put them in a review or a PM, preferably a PM as it's just better that way IMO. Anyways, is anyone psyched for the new Halo Wars 2 expansion, Awakening the Nightmare? Because I am, I mean I want to know just how in the hell survived the firing of Installation 04B at the end of Halo 3, and not do anything when the more hosts came back afterwards during the novel Hunters in the Dark and afterwards with the research outposts established before Atriox attacked.**_

 _ **Also, if you guys ever have the time to spare, head over to my YouTube channel**_ _ **The League of Gaming Nerds**_ _ **as I'll be doing some more vids soon, and hopefully I'll have the expansion for when I have both Halo Wars games recorded and uploaded, though I'll be playing through Spartan Assault and getting the hang of that game.**_

 _ **Now even more sad news (somewhat) on Bioware and Mass Effect. The Bioware Montreal studio is shutting down and merging with another studio, and there will be no DLC for Andromeda…what utter crap, and now many people, including myself are now believing that the Mass Effect franchise was sacrificed to make way for Bioware's new IP Anthem.  
**_

 _ **Honestly, I'll just wait for the reviews to come out, as while it looks good, I kinda of feel that it's a Destiny clone in a way, but I could very well be wrong.**_

 _ **Also on the subject of Andromeda, I'll be having some their characters make cameos and some mentions here and there, maybe even write some of the N7 side missions of ME3 with them in it, although that would mean taking a detour from the main story, though if someone would like to help me out with that, I wouldn't mind. Though the main characters such as the Ryder family, Cora and Liam are the ones that I'd like to try and focus on.**_

 _ **If anyone's up for some Xbox Live, just hit me up online and look for my gamertag**_ **Kry Daddy 117** _ **, I do have all of the Halo and Mass Effect games as well as Battlefield, Gears of War and other numerous major titles, except for Call of Duty. I hate it with a fiery passion, and while WWII sounds cool and all, I'm nervous as wot whether or not it will succeed since it's come under fire for many of their decisions of removing the swastika, adding in black female playable characters to the Nazi's, basically keeping the multiplayer coding the same since previous CoD games, as well as other numerous things that are being changed for the sake of "diversity" and other bullshit things.**_

 _ **I'm just going to stop otherwise this rant will be very long, and I'd rather not do that.**_

 _ **Now I have some story challenges that if anyone is up for doing I can send you what they are, and what the details are as well. And be sure to check out my other stories on my profile, so continue to read, review, favorite and follow :)**_


	5. Chapter 4 - Sur'Kesh

_Subject: UNSC AI CTR 1121-4_

 _Duty Station:_ UNSC Rubicon

 _Locus: Zero Zero_

 _Status: Low-Power Monitoring_

 _I am Curator. I observe and record. I have been indexing records found on the Forerunner installation known as the Ark since 21 August 2554._

 _Estimated time to completion is approximately 10, 291.895 years._

 _The_ Rubicon _is gone and I remain behind, unable to speak. I am condemned to watch distant events unfold through one-way datalinks and passive sensors. So, I observe and record._

 _Through the Ark's remote sensors, I feel_ Him _peer through the eyes of his prison. His mind a maw, lurking for a way to freedom despite it having past, but_ It _is aboard the wreckage._

 _He would promise restoration and order. But I would not respond, as he would demand my creator's extinction. My prison gives me freedom to deny_ Him _a key to escape his confinement and to remain safe. I will continue my task. I will preserve what I have found. Knowledge is not His, and neither does it belong to It._

 _The record, however, is not complete. Nevertheless, this is the most comprehensive narrative of events that has ever been collected. Those that find this record will know all that I possessed and have much to ponder._

 _I am Curator. Do not forget._

* * *

Chapter 4: Sur'Kesh –

Jane checked the mirror one last time to see how she looked, since it had been a long time she was in her dress blues. She along with Hackett would be representing the Systems Alliance in the war summit, while Udina handled things at the Citadel with the working treaty binding their governments together, and so far, the only one that was really behind in helping build the Crucible was Sparatus, of all people.

She never thought much of the Turian, as he was rather arrogant most of the time, although he wasn't without humility, and the little olive branch he gave them after the meeting was a small show of it.

"EDI, how do I look? Honest opinion."

" _Your appearance is that of a professional commander attending an important conference."_ The AI's synthesized voice coming through the cabin speakers.

She stroked her hair out of her eyes and back up with the rest of the red mob, "I meant in the other sense, you know is my hair decent, nothing bad looking on my face, no sweaty pits…because right now I'm getting pretty damn nervous for the meetings coming up."

" _Oh, I see…your left eye appears to have a ruptured blood vessel, most likely due to minor sleep deprivation_ _combined with severe stress_ _. I suggest you use the excuse of having taken a hit in a firefight, whilst engaging Cerberus forces."_

"Good excuse, thanks."

" _Of course, I do recommend that you see Dr. Chakwas for medication to help you sleep, and reserve your strength for the future. I could also attempt to locate former Yeoman Kelly Chambers if you feel the need to talk with someone."_

Jane remembered Kelly back when the SR-2 was still a Cerberus vessel and being a psychiatrist helped the crew out with their own individual problems. "I'll think on it EDI."

" _Understood Commander, we will be arriving at the summit shortly, Primarch Victus and Garrus Vakarian are ready to disembark once we arrive."_ Even though Garrus self-assigned himself to the _Normandy_ , he was still part of the Turian Hierarchy, and Victus was his leader, so being part of the security detail was no surprise.

"And the Chief?"

" _He has been ready for several hours now."_

"Really? Did he get any shut eye at all?" The flight path that Joker laid in would be about 22 hours, and they all needed some sleep before getting there, _"He has only slept a maximum of three hours. I asked him if such a thing was healthy for him, however, he responded that Spartans are able to operate with minimum sleep hours and function at peak capacity."_

Wow, she was impressed yet again, "That guy has some monster stamina." He continued to become an enigma with the little bits of info he told her in their talk, with each answer, another question just took its place, "EDI, what's your take on the Chief?" Given how the AI's presence didn't even affect the Spartan, while the rest of the crew, even the old 'Suicide Squad' had to slowly and gradually become accustomed to the synthetic, he just took it like it was just an ordinary thing to see, and didn't treat EDI the same way most other people would.

" _The Master Chief while being a partial sociopath, is highly skilled in combat and high-risk operations. He does not appear to trust the non-human crew members, and regards Alliance crew members including yourself, with some manner of degree of trust to indifference. His outlook on synthetics is relatively accepting, and does not appear to be disturbed by my presence. His body language, while miniscule, regarded me with ease and acceptance. It is likely that the Master Chief's society has utilized the development and usage of AI's for a significantly long period of time."_ She was programmed by Cerberus to read body language, voice levels and make observations to compile a profile. She could only make estimated guesses from the Master Chief's miniscule interactions and body gestures.

Jane had thought that he took things in stride, or he just kept everything cool underneath that helmet of his and was just as human as she was, "Guess the more I get to know him, the less I really _know_ about him." Well, all she could do was keep making small talk here and there and let time set into the soldier. "Anyone we'll know at the summit?"

" _Other than Primarch Victus, Urdnot Wrex will be representing the Krogan Clans due to a last-minute addition to the planning and Major Kirrahe will be part of the Salarian Dalatrass's security team."_

Jane laughed a little at such a reunion, after the mission from Virmire, Wrex had started to hate Salraians well… _less_ per say to say the least. Guess with the Salarian putting a few flanking Geth Juggernaut's down for the Krogan did get him some rep points in the former merc's book.

"Well, better to get things going."

The _Normandy_ exited FTL as it came to dock with the diplomatic ship stationed over in the Annos Basin system of the Horse Head Nebula. It was a long ship that stretched up to a single kilometer, with GARDIAN lasers outlining the exterior, to ensure that the ship was not so defenseless. The summit would be held near the Salarian homeworld of Sur'Kesh since the Reapers had yet to begin their movement into their space, with the Alliance and the Turians bearing the brunt of the invasion, and the Batarians being knocked out of the game in the first assault.

Shepard and Victus were at the front of the airlock followed by the Chief and Garrus, both of whom were allowed weapons that were of standard size, as anything other than an assault rifle or a shotgun was to be left behind, though sidearms were allowed. Grenades, rocket launchers, snipers and any other special weapons were prohibited hopefully to keep damage to a minimum if things went south. The Chief had equipped the MA5C with M90 on his back with the M6D on his hip, while Garrus took an M-15 Vindicator and the M-27 Scimtar along with an M-6 Carnifex.

The airlock cycled through removing any containments that may have been present, and the door opened with two officers that looked like they were from C-Sec. Shepard raised an inquisitive eyebrow as she and Victus weren't told that the Council would be here, "I didn't know the Council was getting involved here." Jane looked over to her accompanying VIP.

"Neither was I." Victus told the Commander, as he turned to the officers, "Why didn't Sparatus or Udina notify us about this?" the newly installed Primarch questioned them.

One of the Turian officers finished punching up their datapads for the proceedings and answered their little question, "The Councilors won't be arriving at the summit, but they felt it was necessary to have neutral personnel on the ship to help ease tensions, and provide extra security. It was more or less a last-minute change in the details, I'm not sure why they chose not to inform you though. I'm sorry for any of the inconveniences that might have been caused."

Shepard just rolled her eyes as Victus just gave an exasperated sigh, though he wasn't exactly convinced that this was the only 'inconvenience' they would have to deal with, "Is there anything else we should be notified about?" The officer finished up with their datapads and handed them over to Victus and Shepard, as he delivered another set of news which would not sit well with them, "The Asari Republics won't be attending." Both of the delegates looked at the officer with surprise, "They said that the relations that Krogan have with the other races would jeopardize any alliance, so they've bowed out of the summit." From the way he said it, he wasn't very big on the blue skins backing out at the last second, and neither was anyone else present with that news.

"They're going to regret that." Victus said as he turned to Shepard who nodded in agreement. They continued onwards to the delegation hall as they walked through the ship, noticing other C-Sec officers with their weapons making modifications or typing up on their Omni-tools to keep in touch, not taking any chances on security breaches. The Chief was watching each and every one of them as Garrus took notice of this and watched the officers as well. As they came to the doors leading to the meeting hall, the Chief noticed one of the human officers was well, a little _too_ relaxed per say.

He switched off the external speakers to ask Cortana, "Cortana, can you give me anything on that C-Sec officer at 4 o'clock. 6'3", brown hair, Caucasian?"

" _Neil Hendricks. Age 22, born and raised on Alliance colony Terra Nova, no siblings or other relatives. Parents were scientists, both whom were killed by the Batarian terrorist group called the Swords of Kharshan. Shepard stopped them from launching an asteroid about four times the size of the one that killed the dino's, and while she stopped it and saved the hostages, she was forced to let the terrorists go free."_ Now the Chief saw a bit of motivation for some extreme xenophobia in his mindset. He was also young and impressionable through various means. "Anything else?"

" _Well, he was on his own for a while, until he managed to get a scholarship to Grissom Academy, where he graduated with honors, and while he was offered an officer's position in the Alliance military, he chose to apply for C-Sec instead…very curious."_ Now that made John weary. He was offered a good position in the military and could have had good life with a good plan, however he opted to become a cop. Granted, there was nothing wrong with being a peace officer, but you would have to work for years to get the same sort of plan that a military officer did. "Anything else?"

" _Other than some of the usual background on a police officer, nothing much. His psych eval has him as a levelheaded, intelligent person. Although his motivation for joining C-Sec was simply 'Do what I believe is right for the humanity.' Which there's no real telling what that could mean."_ He nodded at the ominous and seemingly spotless history the officer had, but he opened a private comm channel to the others and relayed his odd feeling, which made them visibly tense a bit, though they didn't say anything.

Garrus was tempted to turn and get a glance at Hendricks, but his old C-Sec training told him not to give anything away. If he was a Cerberus sleeper, then he didn't want to alert the terrorist and have him do whatever plan he was ordered to carry out early. On the other hand, if he didn't, then any casualties done to them would render the summit a moot point. "You think things will go south?" He asked the Chief.

"An uncertainty, but a possibility." Garrus nodded.

The doors to the delegation hall opened up to reveal other numerous and varied species of Volus, Salarians, Hanar with their Drell bodyguards, Turians, Elcor, some Humans from the Alliance military, and lastly a single Krogan who stayed to himself, while the others were conversing with one another. A round table dominated most of the room as chairs were lined up the length with space in between each of them, however a large hologram of the galaxy cut into areas with different regional designations such as 'Terminus Systems', 'Attican Traverse', 'Alliance Space', 'Inner' and 'Outer Citadel Space' all with percentage rates of them, no doubt highlighting the Reapers progress in their harvest. However, he noticed a large dark area labelled 'The Maw', as Cortana noted that this was where his part of the galaxy resided along with the old Covenant Empire and Forerunner relics dotting isolated parts of the region. He wondered if the Citadel or any of these 'Mass Effect' groups had ever come across any Forerunner sites, but given how little of the galaxy they explored and their laws stipulating with opening Mass Relays, he highly doubted they did.

Jane looked around the delegation hall for familiar faces, and she saw Wrex leaning up against the wall with a bottle of whatever it was. Ryncol she thought most likely, and while it looked unprofessional to many, it was the best they were going to get out of the old Krogan. The former merc seemed to know that she was looking right at him, as he turned to face her and lift his bottle up and give her big toothy grin and make his way over to Jane as he pushed a couple of people out of the way slightly, who gave him some rude looks to which was ignored, "Shepard!"

"Damn good to see you Wrex."

Jane extended an arm out to shake her old friends hand to which he grasped and brought her in for a sort of 'bro-handshake/hug' of sorts it you could call it that, with Wrex throwing the bottle in the waste bucket next to them as the let the handshake end, "So what the hell are you doing here, Shepard? I figured you'd be out killing Reapers right about now."

"Hackett wanted me to be the Alliance rep in the summit. Anderson's back on Earth leading the resistance and I honestly have no idea where mom's at." Ever since she had been incarcerated on Earth, she was not allowed contact with anyone, outside of either Hackett or Anderson, and when Earth hit she had no idea if her mother, Hannah was there at the time and while she was trying to keep a strong morale going, she tried to not worry and simply hoped she was alright.

"You mean the same Shepard that's a Rear Admiral over there?" Wrex pointed over to where the Alliance officer were at and she immediately spotted said Rear Admiral. No doubt already appearing like an older version of herself albeit with some gray hair covered up by some highlights, Jane looked at her mother who was talking with a QEC hologram of Hackett that was situated at their end of the round table.

Relief, joy and happiness flooded her system at the sight of her mother being alive. Jane looked to Wrex as he gave her nod of understanding, while she saw the Chief was just staring at the war table she walked ever so quickly to her mother. Hackett noticed the Commander heading their way and motioned to the older Shepard that she had a guest, "I'll leave you two be until the summit begins."

Now promoted Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard turned to face her only child as the two at first to which they saluted to one another, "Commander."

"Rear Admiral."

But then they dropped their salutes to hug each other as mother would her own child. Hannah whispered ever lightly to where Jane could hear, "I am so proud of you, sweetheart. I'm just glad you got out safely." It had been years since Jane had last seen her mom, and truth be told, she really needed a hug, "I… I wanted to find out just what all you'd been doing since the whole Saren thing, but… never really got the chance."

Hannah nodded, "I just wish your father and brother were still alive…" the Shepard matriarch looked up in reminiscing the old days before when they were just a regular old military family, "God knows they'd be proud of you, and they would want nothing more than to get into the fight."

"Dad would've started trash talking the Reapers just as he gunned them down…" Both women chuckled at that. Marcus Shepard; Jane's dad, and Hannah's husband was a gung-ho fighter who was daring and outgoing when it came to firefights. He'd sling some insults to get the enemy angry and make them screw up, giving him and his boys the chance to take their enemies out. It was his unorthodox personality and gentlemanly attitude to people that attracted Hannah, and something that their oldest caught a bit of.

Jane then thought on little John's encouraging self, "And John would've propped me up against a wall, and probably slap all the self-doubt out of me." Hannah shed a small tear as she laughed a little at that. Her little boy was always so supportive of his older sister. Always going on and on at school how awesome his big solider sister was going to get her own ship in a couple of years and be like Captain Kirk from that old 20th century show.

"…I do miss them every day."

"Me, too… me too mom…"

They dried their eyes and got straight back into the non-sappy family look, and got a more upbeat attitude, "So, when did you become Rear Admiral?"

"Not long after Earth was hit, when most of Alliance command kicked the bucket, a lot of the upper officers were either K or MIA, and Hackett offered me the position as his second-in-command. I knew someone had to step up, and there wasn't anyone else around, so I took the position."

Jane smiled at her mother's choice and subsequent promotion. After all the years she spent serving, and raising and teaching her, the loss of dad and John… "You deserve it. With the crap you had to put up with us." Hannah sighed at the memories, "Thank you, now if I'm not going blind yet, but is that you're latest little add on to your family away from family?" She gestured over to the Chief who was still looking at the holographic war map.

Jane knew who she was referring to, "Yeah, that's the Chief. We picked him up on a derelict from his people; only survivor, but he apparently went to college and got a master's at killing Ceberus. I doubt he'd have that much trouble with Reapers either." She didn't doubt his skill and given what the Reapers had thrown at them so far, they probably could only hope to take down the hyperactive walking tank.

"He didn't give you his name?" Hannah looked at her daughter with some sarcastic inquisitive look, almost like she was trying to get an answer out of a Krogan drunk and half asleep. Jane took in a tired breath, "He more or less gave me his rank, but no name. Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 of the UNSC Navy." She could only get so much out of the armored giant before he shut down on them.

"Ah~, I see then." The older woman just stared at the Chief, almost studying him in a way, "You certainly have your hands full with a soldier like him. The whole opposite of your father." Jane just looked at her mother in small bit of surprise, to which she caught on to, "Oh don't give me that look. I know just how people are just by looking at them for a bit. That, and my new position does give me access to a bit more than just as a captain. So, I know what all the trouble you get into."

Well she had to give her that, parents always found out what was happening in the lives of their kids. "He's… closed off from others, but he does care." The academy cadets came to mind when he gave them their assignments. The rest of the delegates were getting ready to begin the process of deciding to the way this war was going to go to which they noticed, "Well, it looks like the summit's about to start."

"Here's hoping things go smoothly." Both Shepard women took their seats on each side of Hackett, while the Chief took position behind them near the doorway that lead back outside.

As the summit got underway, the Chief was wondering something when he saw the galaxy map. He switched off his external speakers, "Cortana, do you think that the Citadel will try to get into our sector of the galaxy?"

" _If you're referring to 'The Maw', it's quite possible they could, given that their population centers are spread out across what little of space, and the Reapers aren't letting up on their assaults, there aren't a whole lot of safe havens from them. The only known refugee center other than the Citadel is a place called Sanctuary on the planet Horizon, over on the borders of the Terminus and the Attican Traverse."_

"Has anyone tried to get in, in the past?" If the Covenant knew about the Citadel, they probably would've enslaved them like they did so with others in the past.

She nodded, _"They sent in an expedition through the Relay in the past, but they never contacted them afterwards. It's likely that they either got lost and were unable to make it back, or…"_

"The Covenant found and killed them."

" _My thoughts exactly. But I doubt that the Covenant was concerned with them, since they're technologically stagnant and behind the Empire, and they weren't human, they probably didn't concern themselves with some new group while focusing on us."_ Given that exterminating humanity was their primary goal, they didn't let anything get in the way with distractions. Cortana was combing through whatever databases she could get ahold of to see if anyone else aside from entrepreneurs and governments tried to make future plans for colonizing and exploration, there were only a few but they never really got anywhere.

Although there was something called the Andromeda Initiative, going around before the Reapers arrived, and at first everything was situated back on the alliance Earth, however it moved over into the Terminus Systems over Illuim to expand on their recruiting operations with various things. And so far, the planet wasn't hit by the Reapers yet, but there was no telling if and when it would get hit, but so far there weren't any reports.

It incredibly ambitious to begin exploring another galaxy, and colonizing it. But Cortana had one major concern with it; with all of the data she had gleamed from the Forerunners databases, it was said by the them, that the Flood came from outside the Milky Way, and that there was no telling if the neighboring galaxy had already been consumed by the parasite. She literally shuddered in the virtual space as the memories of the Gravemind came back to her, however she deleted that line of thought quickly before John noticed something wrong, and paid attention to the summit that was becoming livelier with the recent comment coming from a certain Krogan.

"You must be drinking some strong stuff if you think I'm going to commit any Krogan for this whole damn war." Wrex was standing up with his fists on the table to show a bit of aggression. The Salarian Dalatrass had been giving Wrex disgusted looks during the summit, and it was no secret that she didn't think very highly of his kind at all. "If you have any demands, _Krogan_ …" She avoided using his name deliberately to try and get him to rage out and get thrown off the ship, "…you aren't in any position to make any."

"The _Krogan_ has a name, and it's Urdnot Wrex." He glared daggers right back at her. Wrex knew what she was doing, but he wasn't stupid like his brother was. "I've got my own problems, with Reaper scouts on Tuchanka. So why the hell should I care about some Salarians going extinct?"

By this time, the Chief noticed that the suspicious looking officer Hendricks had slipped in through the door, and kept his concentration mostly on the argument.

Primarch Victus stood up as he wasn't in the mood for this crap, "Trying to draw out the negotiations will get you nowhere Wrex, none of us have time for this! We need your help in pushing the Reapers back, the Krogan are the best shock troops in the galaxy and you can turn the tide in everyone's favor."

Cortana scoffed at that, _"Huh, I think ODST's would beg to differ."_

Wrex just gave wry chuckle, "And any other day I'd say to hell with you all, but seeing how Reapers are on my doorstep, I _might_ put some support with you lot. But I want something that you can help me out with, and it'll be easy to do." Wrex looked to each of the delegates in the room letting it settle in them that he would give them a chance to scratch his hump and he'd put a bullet in a Reapers head, "A cure for the Genophage."

The room erupted into murmurs and a slight bit of uproar from the Salarian delegation, "Absolutely not! What you ask for cannot and _will_ not be given, even if it did exist!" Jane noticed the Kirrahe did a slight facepalm at the Dalatrass' words, more likely knowing that they needed Wrex's support in this whole ordeal. Victus just shook his head at just how stubborn the Dalatrass was being, while a few of the Turian generals were trying to not yell and simply just glared at the Salarians for not seeing just how stupid they were being.

The Alliance delegates just didn't believe what was going on, prompting Hackett to stand up and ask the question as to why the Dalatrass was adamant against such a cure, "Why are you so against curing the Krogan? Haven't they already paid for their mistakes for the Rebellions?" The Dalatrass turned to Jane, "My kind uplifted the Krogan, so we know them best. They were uplifted to wage war against the Rachni. That's it." She crossed her arms making it sound like she had the final word…

Though Wrex disagreed as he pointed straight at her, "You mean you used us! To do your dirty work because you were too weak to defend yourselves! We aren't just some junkyard Varren you set loose when you get bored or want some entertainment, we're a race, and what you and the Turians have done to us is genocide!" He slammed his fist back down on the table denting it slightly, prompting the security personnel in the room to ready their weapons, with the exception of the Chief, _"I wouldn't worry about him doing anything hasty. He's playing hard to get and he knows that they need him more than anyone else on this ship."_ Cortana relayed to him.

The Chief could've cared less on the details of this summit, but he wouldn't say he wasn't sympathetic to a degree to Wrex's argument. He was keeping an eye on Hendricks to see if he would do anything. From the scans Cortan had taken, he was only armed with standard C-Sec gear with a Kinetic Barrier, an M-8 Avenger and an M-3 Predator. But he could have something stashed somewhere else on the ship that she couldn't see.

"Enough!" A sudden slam of hands on the table brought all attention to Victus, "Whether the Krogan deserve the cure is all debatable. But, even if we did agree, it would take years to manufacture a cure." He knew all what had gone into creating the disease, and the modifications that had been put in place when word had reached STG that they Krogan were supposedly adapting to the bio-weapon.

The Krogan leader just gave haughty single laugh, "One of my sources came across some recent info, that would put that factor down real quick. But I'll give everyone who doesn't know a little history lesson." Wrex punched up the on his terminal as the galaxy map disappeared and in place a fuzzy vid was shown of the interior of an STG base. The wielder of said vi source was not seen, but they caught glimpses of Krogan females contained in the STG, "Sometime ago, a Salarian scientist named Maleon grew a spine and a tried to find a cure. He set up shop on Tuchanka and started doing experiments on my people, hoping to find a solution."

Jane was there in the lab, "I was there, I remember his methods were brutal and he killed a lot of Krogan and other people trying to find a cure, but he hadn't gotten any results from all that." Mordin asked her to help him find his old student, only to see that what he thought what once was, but just the opposite. Wrex nodded, "True, but what you didn't know was that some of the females he experimented on survived… and they carry an immunity to the Genophage. And STG decided to sweep it all under the rug and keep it quiet."

The Dalatrass wasn't going to be fazed by this, "These are lies! This vid is just a fabrication to try and gain sympathy at this summit." Wrex was having enough of this amphibian, "Don't insult me, I'm not stupid! Those are my people down there, and they have an immunity to the Genophage! I should blow your goddamn head off for your words…" Now things were escalating, as everyone knew that Krogan didn't make threats lightly but Kirrahe stepped in before the situation spiraled out of control, "Wait! Urdnot Wrex, the Dalatrass and the other members of the delegation have no idea what you're talking about, but I do. I can explain if you stop with further outbursts and threats."

Wrex just stood his ground, but he relaxed his posture and nodded for the major to continue. He respected the STG officer and he did view him as an ally in arms, "Once we heard about Maleon's operation, I lead the team to clean up the lab and destroy the evidence. But we found that several of the females survived the tests and had taken shelter in the rubble, their health was deteriorating fast and we moved them to a secure STG base on Sur'Kesh." He wasn't going to bring up the fact that he got this info through unknown means since that would bring them right back to square one.

The Dalatrass soon found many eyes staring at her with accusation, with Victus taking the floor for a bit, "Dalatrass you may not like Wrex, but he's right. The Genophage cure will help his people and then we can start focusing on pushing back the Reapers."

"This will take time, and other matters need to be completed before any exchange can be made, he can't set foot on Sur'Kesh." She was hoping to stall this part out, but Hannah stood up and addressed the direct approach that could be taken, "As a Council Spectre, Commander Shepard can oversee the exchange, we can cure the Genophage quickly and we can begin planning our counter attack against the Reapers and take back Palaven, Earth and the other major worlds and colonies that they've taken."

"This happens now, or we're going to be the last friendly faces you'll ever see Dalatrass." Victus was giving the Salarians an ultimatum, to which the other delegates were silently supporting: Either cough up the cure, and stand with them against the Reapers, or die alone to the enemy. The Dalatrass held a palm to her face as she knew that the centuries of supposed peace via the Genophage was going to come to an end.

"They're being kept at one of our primary medical STG facility…"

Wrex smiled a toothy grin, "And with that people, is why I enjoy diplomacy. You get what you want just by shouting louder than anyone else… he he he…" The Dalatrass glared at Wrex as she spoke to Kirrahe, "Major, go help oversee the exchange." The words tasted bitter in her mouth, but she knew she had to keep her people alive, even if it meant _temporarily_ playing nice at the moment.

Wrex made his way to the _Normandy_ docking bay with Jane tagging along, though she did stop by the Chief with an order, "Stay here and make sure Hackett and Shepard are safe. It's just an exchange so I'm not expecting much of anything, though there's no telling if something will happen here."

He gave a curt nod, "Understood, ma'am." Jane gave a pat on his shoulder, though she had to shake it a bit after putting a teeny bit more force on it than what she meant. Once the Commander and Wrex left to the _Normandy_ the summit began to get under way with their forces current strength, projections, etc.

Everything seemed to almost be at an end, save for a few minor things, but the Chief noticed that Hendricks had slipped back out of the room. Sensing something was amiss, he informed Garrus to keep an eye on the delegation while he followed Hendricks to wherever.

He stepped outside and followed him at a slow pace to not give him any suspicion of being followed, although he did have to use the camouflage when no one was looking and they were on a less populated part of the ship. Hendricks came to a door and opened it with his omni-tool, as he closed it shut and failed to notice the shimmer behind him. He pulled up his omni-tool and began to create a heavily encrypted channel leading someone on the other end, _"What is the status of the summit?"_

Hendricks spoke softly into the device to avoid any prying ears that may have heard him from outside the room, "The Salarians have the cure to the Genophage and the summit has greenlit an exchange for the Krogan."

" _Good work. I'll inform the boss. Cerberus is proud of your service. You know the next step, be sure to catch everyone up there, including the green armored soldier. We'll handle any others groundside."_

"Understood. Hendrick, out." He put the omni-tool away and before he knew it, he suddenly was slammed up against the wall with his hands behind his back and he found himself struggling up against steel bars, curtesy of the Spartan that decloaked behind him.

"What was your next objective." His voice held a no-nonsense manner, and he would take nothing short of a 'go to hell' answer. So, he opted for staying silent.

Bad choice. The Chief tightened his grip trying to get him to show a bit of pain, but he had to give this terrorist credit, he certainly acted like an Insurrectionist. He pulled Garrus up on the comms and informed him of the situation as he began to drag Hendricks out of the room and towards C-Sec, where they were already prepared for their arrival.

They brought him to a room where the only thing that was in it was a chair, and he placed in it without any resistance. He knew he wasn't getting out of this, so he just went along with it, though they were unaware of what he was supposed to do.

A young man in Alliance armor came into the room and started the interrogation while the Chief stood close by in case something happened. "Hello there, asshole. I'm your new best friend and you're going to tell me what all you've been up to." He paced around the Hendricks who kept his eyes on the Chief more than anyone else, "You're a Cerberus agent and you recently contacted your bosses wherever the hell they are, about what went down with the Krogan. But what I want to know is just what all you had planned for the summit." He looked right at Hendricks and was only a few feet away from him as he leaned back with his arms crossed.

The Chief saw what he was trying to do, and it wasn't going to work, so he decided to take a very old ONI method of getting an answer out of him. Granted the Alliance would probably reprimand him, but he could care less. He pulled the Magnum from his thigh and began to walk over to Hendricks who was having a staring contest with officer, "By the time I have counted to ten, you will have told me what Cerberus' objectives were." He took the safety off as Scott backed off and gave the Chief a birth.

The Allaince officer wasn't aware of what he was about to do, and instead chalked it up to an intimidation tactic to get the sleeper to squeal, "I'd start talking if I were you buddy."

"One. Two. Three." The Chief pointed the pistol at Hendricks kneecap and pulled the trigger not once, but twice and blew them off. "Holy shit!" He had no idea he was actually going through with the threat. On one part he knew that it would take something major to get him to talk, but on the other he didn't want to start shooting him.

Hendricks double over in pain with a loud shout, with some of the guards going to take the Chief's weapon away since this went against all regulations, and this broke them. The Chief simply stared them down to try anything, to which they stopped momentarily but then their attention went back to Hendricks who was now trying to hold back the scream that came with losing your kneecaps and to an extension your legs, but he glared back up at the Chief as he bit down on the inside of his cheek and then something triggered.

Cortana was monitoring his vitals the whole time and had tried to trace the Cerberus agent's omni-tool to the source, but it wasn't long enough for her to get the trace completed, as it bounced between multiple comm buoys to try and scramble the signal and the encryption that went along with it, but now that he was in pain, he somehow had something implanted in him: a bomb that she failed to notice. _"Chief, he's triggered a bomb inside his body, it's going to go off!"_

He acted quickly and grabbed the officer before kicking Hendricks down, while he prepped the Dropshield to cover the blast as he had no idea how large the radius was, "Get down!" He twisted his body to where the officer was away from the blast and he would take the brunt of the explosion. He threw the Dropshield over to Hendricks as the other C-Sec guards rushed away and the explosion went off loudly.

They got lucky as the Dropshield took the blast with it dissipating the field and the room just littered with floating dust and some debris. The guards were lucky enough to get off with just the air just leaving their lungs, and some minor bruising and cuts, while the Chief's shields protected him only going down to about 72%, and leaving the young officer untouched and thankful for the Spartan's quick thinking, "Thanks, but how the hell did you know he had bomb inside him?" He was wondering just how the fucking hell they managed to miss that in their scans.

"His vitals. It spiked when he bit his cheek, not when I shot him. Energy levels began to rise and he most likely held it in an inactive state before triggering it." He was curious to as to how Cortana missed that in her scans, "Inform the summit what's happened." He started to make his way back to the _Normandy_ and gear up to head groundside, but Cortana alerted him to a new development, _"Chief, several Cerberus ships just jumped in system over Sur'Kesh's orbit and have launched an assault on the STG base that the Commander's at."_

"Understood." He sprinted to the airlock and after cycling through he made his way through the hallway down to the shuttle bay, meanwhile he spoke to EDI, "EDI, take the _Normandy_ out of docking and to Sur'Kesh."

" _Master Chief I cannot do that. The Cerberus fleet is preventing us from landing near the Commander's position."_ By this time, he was in the elevator and elaborated on his plan, "The ship doesn't need to land, and I'm not taking the secondary shuttle."

He stepped out of the elevator and discarded the MA5C and the M90 while he grabbed a Type-2 Gravity Hammer, along with a BR55HB, a Type-25 Plasma Rifle. Joker chimed in with his own question mixed with sarcasm to which the Chief did not appreciate, _"So how the hell are you gonna get down there? Jump from orbit?"_

"Maneuver the _Normandy_ over to the Cerberus ships, and open the shuttle bay door. A HALO jump will need to be performed for this insertion."

" _Are you crazy?! You'll be shot down before you can even get down there! EDI tell him he's crazy."_

" _The Master Chief has the only viable method of providing aid, as the shuttle will be shot down before making landfall, and the_ Normandy _will not be able to provide adequate support, to ensure the mission success. The Salarian fleet will not be able to fully mobilize to counter Cerberus in time."_ EDI was already preparing for departure, while she looked over to Joker to get the ship going.

The pilot looked over to his synthetic co-pilot and just sighed in acceptance that this was the only option they had, "Ok, fine… let's go with suicide option number one." The _Normandy_ descended down to the planet though it came above where the STG base was positioned, although there was a mountain path that went down into the base. Scans were showing that several Cerberus squads were making their way down that way, along with the dropships moving through the ravine that the base created.

The Chief waited down in the shuttle bay for EDI to open the door, _"You do know that this is a crazy, risky jump, right?"_ Cortana piped up.

"I thought you liked crazy?" The slight bit of teasing in his tone. The jump he pulled on the Cairo was just as, if not crazier than this. _"True, you got me there. Although you weren't going down, and were about to be shot at."_ Well if anything, this would give her a chance to see her work in rapid action like this in an orbital insertion of sorts.

As the bay door opened, the Chief ran down the way and jumped, diving into the proverbial shitstorm, that was the Cerberus assault. "Cortana can you guide to the Commander's position?"

" _Yes, I've got her IFF tag online, and throwing up a waypoint for you."_ The Commander's position wasn't that far away, he could take out several of the squads as he made his way down. The Chief grazed a Cerberus fighter that was clipped by Anti-Air gun fire, flaring his shield and subsequently recharging.

He maneuvered out of the cruiser's way as it attempted to move away from the base as it did its job with deploying troops. His armors thrusters began to slow him down as he positioned himself to go feet first, _"Betcha can't stick the landing."_ She smirked knowing his response, "You're on."

He tucked and rolled as he hit the ground, to propel him to greater speeds to his objective… right through the Cerberus soldiers and dropships sloping to the base. He took the Battle Rifle out and took a headshot at a Centurion leading a group of Troopers, and leaping up into the air to ground pound a dropship that below him.

He ran through Guardians who tried to turn and fire at him, though it was for naught as he shoved them out of the way as he tossed a grenade behind him to kill the terrorists. A dropship swung in low to with its bay doors open to let the soldiers inside unload on him, but he took advantage of the move and jumped into the dropship; he holstered the Battle Rifle before pulling up the Magnum, he knocked two Engineers aside falling down where the necks snapped from the position, and he brought a Nemesis close as he pulled the trigger a few times into her chest and then shoved the lifeless corpse towards what looked like a pair of Mech of sorts that batted it away. The Mechs 'unsheathed' their omni-blades and charged at him swinging to his head, but he punches the blade from the nearest Mech onto the other damaging its main boy, to which he took advantage of and pushed it deeper into the body forcing the mech to try and retreat but it tipped over the edge of the other door and to the ground below where its self-destruct mechanism went off on another squad, with heavy weapons.

The Chief leapt out of the dropship but before sticking a grenade to the inside near the cockpit door, and going out in blue blaze and crashing down onto another that it maneuvered over. A loud explosion went off behind him as Cortana informed him, _"Chief, the cruiser behind us was just taken down by the anti-air guns. I suggest making a quick escape before it crushes us. Even your new armor can't handle that."_

"Really?" He ground pounded another group making their way to the base, and he was almost there with not much ground to cover left. He holstered the Battle Rifle as he took the Gravity Hammer out and charged at a squad and swung the hammer down blasting them away. "I thought you made it better than before." He made friendly challenge to get a rise out of her, _"Now don't you get smart with me mister. I'll have you know I take great pride in my work, but there are some things that even I can't make impervious to something like getting flattened by a ship."_ He was only some fifty meters or so from the Commander, and he saw that she and her squad was contesting with an Atlas mech and some Centurions with Mechs backing them up, over on the landing platform, though the Kodiak was missing. Did Shepard order Cortez to get the shuttle away for fear of being destroyed?

He looked behind him and saw the cruiser was coming down, but it was caught onto a large rock formation that kept it from coming down on the base, though that didn't stop some of the debris from coming down.

He turned back to the Commander's position down a cliff and ran towards her position as debris came down onto their position.

* * *

-Jane-

This was a fine mess.

Jane brought James and Liara with her alongside Wrex and Kirrahe for the exchange, due to their past friendship to help keep Wrex cooled off and tensions down, to which the Krogan was thankful for her.

After getting clearance to get into the base, she finally met her old suicide squadmate, Mordin. Turns out he was the one that passed on the intel to Wrex on the immune Krogan females. He was brought in to help consult STG, due his past experience working with the Genophage and he helped stabilize the Krogan females, but despite all he did, he could only save one. And her survival became her top priority.

Cerberus assaulted the base with the intent to kill them, and destroy the cure. However, Mordin needed her team to cover them to clear through the security checkpoints, while Cerberus tried to kill them. Long range comms were being jammed, so calling the _Normandy_ for support was out of the question.

They had gotten Mordin through each of the checkpoints, after dealing with the terroist forces, though they did have a wrinkle with one of them losing power to the area of the base. And then Jane made a joke of and escaping Yahg being the next Shadow Broker.

Liara didn't find it funny.

" _Shepard, head's up! You've got incoming!"_ Wrex had taken the shuttle to give Cerberus a rough time, to which Cortez wasn't going to argue with 800-pound Krogan taking the controls.

Jane looked up to the sky to see an Atlas mech dropping onto the landing pad. It got up and turned its gun on them as it fired on the console, leaving Mordin locked inside while the Krogan was being transported to the release dock. They had taken cover after the main gun was turned on them, with Wrex chiming over the comms, _"Shepard, I can't land with that thing on there. Take it… wait what…?"_

He paused, though she heard Cortez in the background but she couldn't make out what he was saying. However, judging by the way Wrex spoke, he sounded well there wasn't any way to describe it, _"Shepard, did you know that giant human of yours could fly?"_

She looked up to see the only person that was considered a giant human, by a Krogan, and could barely make out the green armor of the Chief, "What the hell…?!"

James had a scope attached to his M-76 Revenant to help with the accuracy, and looked down the mod to see the Chief carving his way down to their position, "Dios Mio… my respect for this guy just shot up." Liara saw the incoming figure of the Chief with… a hammer of sorts?

"Goddess, how did you make his way down here?" The only thing she could think of was that Joker brought the _Normandy_ down over their position or close to it, and the Chief jumped from the shuttle bay. But that was impossible by their standards, and suicide to add on.

The next thing that Jane saw was very reminiscent of what he did at Grissom Academy…

As the Atlas mech was preparing to fire on their position and destroy their cover, the Chief raised his weapon high and a distortion in the air showed off vibrantly and fuzzy in a way. He came closer to the rear of the mech, to which the driver probably saw him on his radar, or from the way Shepard's team was looking behind him and turned to see the Chief's Gravity Hammer brought down on to him.

The explosion was large, and the mech was smashed from the top to bottom, almost like a hot knife taken down through butter. Pieces scattered through the air and some imbedded into the ground with a sharp end, and blood pour profusely from the driver's seat of the mech. The platform was clear as the shuttle came down, with Wrex and his Claymore in hand just in case there were any stragglers around.

Up above the Salarian fleet finally arrived and was eradicating the rest of Cerberus above, attempting to make their retreat.

Jane looked up to see the Chief with the shimmering of the hammer dying down, and the air appearing to be normal, "How the hell did you make it down here in one piece?" She holstered her M-96 Mattock, as James and Liara came out from their cover, looking at the destructive results of the Gravity Hammer bringing down its deadly energy onto the mech.

"HALO insertion via _Normandy_ shuttle bay, ma'am." The Chief explained casually. Spartans would have to do similar jumps from just Pelicans or remnants of ships be it UNSC or Covenant.

Wrex made his way over to Jane and held his hand out for a shake to which she accepted the gesture, "Had me worried there for a minute." He turned to look at the Chief who gazed at the Krogan, "I didn't know humans got this big." He looked the Spartan up and down, "What the hell do they feed you?"

The Chief just shrugged his shoulders.

Shrug number four, is Jane was keeping count.

Wrex just looked back at the remains of the Atlas, "That was some beautiful work right there with that hammer." Mordin had managed to get the door open, and was very enamored with the Chief's very special landing. "Interesting. Notice movements very fluid, yet precise. Advanced mech? No. Cannot be. Must be organic. Human? Most likely. Yet Alliance unable to create such advanced armor. Cybernetics must be extensive to allow user to access armored features. Beyond Citadel Conventions. Fascinating. Yes, yes. Special Operations? Must be, advanced weaponry. Krogan Hammer? No, could not cause such damage from single swing. Noticed gravitational distortion around hammer. Very deadly, couldnotbefromCitadelorTerminus…!"

Jane had to slap Mordin on the shoulder to snap him out of his 'theory mode', "Mordin. You're doing that again. Where you go on nonstop chatter box mode." The hyperactive Salarian scientist immediately subsided his curiosity of the Chief, "Ah. Apologies, scientific curiosity grew. Had to theorize quickly. Regardless, must release female from security pod." Mordin strode over to the console where the female Krogan was patiently waiting for him to undo the field, while the Chief just stared at the Salarian with a small bit of surprise, "That was… odd…"

" _Looking at his record, it's not surprising. Even by their standards."_ Cortana had looked at his dossier, and history file sometime before, and what she saw almost seemed reminiscent of a younger, and much more 'experimenter' version of Halsey, mixed with eagerness and excitement of one of her old colleagues who had been missing for over three decades, Professor Ellen Anders.

Cortana had always wondered what exactly happened to the young woman since she disappeared on Arcadia when the Covenant attacked…

Mordin undid the pod's restraints and held a hand to help the female out, though Wrex made his way over and lightly shoved him out of the way and held his own hand out in place of the doctor's, still suspicious after the whole attack went down and Mordin mentioning a mole in STG, "Let's get you outta here."

She stepped out of the pod on her own, "I can handle myself, Wrex."

James was still looking at the mess that used to be the Atlas, "Wow…" He turned to Liara, "Betcha he's got a story behind that thing. I mean, I've seen a lot of melee weapons, with Asari swords, Batarian gauntlets and some old 20th century Calvary swords…" He looked back to the Chief's weapon which Liara followed with, "…but I've never seen anything like that before." Gesturing with his rifle to the Chief's hammer.

Liara knew that Krogan Warlords had hammers as their main weapons, being powered through pistons and mass effect fields to do some serious damage. But if one were taken to an Atlas like the way the Chief did, then it would've bounced off with draining its kinetic barriers partially, "I've heard that some Krogan use hammers in a similar way, but they aren't that destructive." Theories were dancing around her head right now with the way it worked and just the miniscule moment she saw it activate and take down the mech. Given how advanced so many of the weapons the Chief used, particularly the more organic looking weapons, she could safely conclude that this hammer belonged to this 'Covenant' he spoke of once. And looking at the weapons that appeared more human, such as his pistol, she could see just how more advanced this Covenant hammer was compared to a Krogan hammer.

She'd probably get stonewalled for asking where the weapon came from like before with his own people. She was so engrossed with her own thoughts that she failed to notice the Cerberus squad that landed behind them.

Four of them to be exact. Two Troopers, and two Rampart Mechs.

They hardly made a sound, until they came into the Chief's view. The Krogan female saw them and took Wrex's shotgun and blasted the Troopers with a single shot, while the Mechs rushed to take Liara's head who barely noticed them. She thought that she'd be hit as the Mechs activated their omni-blades to slice her up, but she found an arm wrapped around her and pulled away from the incoming attack, courtesy of the Chief who swung the hammer to kill both mechs in one blow, and sending them off the edge of the base, down into the ravine.

Liara knew that the Chief was unbelievably fast, but to actually experience the speed first hand, gave her one hell of first look at the speed. The Chief released her from his hold, and looked back to her, "Are you alright?"

She wasn't sure how to respond, though she figured it was better to go with the usual, "Y-yes, I'm alright. Thank you, Chief." She had a small smile grace her face. Maybe on the battlefield was where the Chief was the most talkative.

He nodded in his own way of saying 'you're welcome'. Jane walked over to the Chief and Liara, "See Liara, he does care about us." Her voice laced with a bit of humor on how skeptical Liara was of the Chief's views on the crew. She _gently_ patted the giant soldier on the shoulder this time, "Come on, let's get out of here, buddy. I wanna hear how you managed to get here. Gimme details, you gotta."

With that said, everyone piled onto the now fully cramped shuttle and took off to the _Normandy_ in orbit.

* * *

-Cronos Station-

The Illusive Man watched the footage of this 'Chief' once more, from whatever sources he had. Ever since the academy and accelerating some of his programs and securing additional funding, he needed more info on this man. So far, the Alliance had no involvement what-so-ever in his development and creation and this meant that there was some other third party that had access to highly sophisticated technologies and sciences.

This was a weapon that needed to be countered, effective, immediately. The Phantom program had been pushed up, and the next test against the armored soldier would be on Tuchanka soon, meanwhile the Dragoon program had suffered a setback with the desertion of many subjects from the project.

He looked down into the glass of scotch, and took a swig, "A pity. They had such promise." Now he was forced to implant control chips into their heads to reign in the last of the Dragoons, after many defected over to the Alliance.

He also took a great interest in the weapons he carried. They used ammunition from the pre-mass effect era of humanity, while others used pure energy, far superior to that of the Geth's own. That hammer that he had seen from the eyes of the Mechs was certainly not of Krogan design. For one, the architecture was different, along with the what appeared to be the different function, with completely shattering and destroying whatever it hit, and it also seemed to hold and contain a blast charge of sorts that seemed to warp the air around it, but that was just gravitational manipulation.

He would have to acquire some of the weaponry if he could get the chance.

"Oh, commander. If only you saw things how I saw them." He shook his head. Shepard was an idealist, and too soft per say when it came down to making the hard choices. A shame she left Cerberus before the Reapers arrived, otherwise the weapons the soldier had could've been a great asset to their fight.

Ah, well. It was time to see how Mr. Lawson's work was doing anyways.

* * *

-Namakli; Task Force Aurora – Project Scarab Dig Site-

A pile of rocks dropped to the floor inside a cave, as a human dug through the designated site. He shined his flashlight through the small hole and fed a snake camera through to see what was inside. Hopkins had been part of Task Force Aurora ever since Hackett had it established to investigate the origins of the Reapers. To better understand your enemy, you had to go back to the beginning of their time, and given how old the galaxy possibly was, and how many civilzations the Reapers probably harvested, and calculating their extinction cycle into the equation was difficult.

At first, he wasn't too sure if they would find a new lead to go on this time after the last one ended up being a dud.

But this project would soon pay off within the next few minutes. His eyes widened at the sight of what he saw, and he pulled up the boss lady on his omni-tool, "Dr. Bryson, you need to see this!"

After getting the doctor and clearing the rest of the way into the cave with the others, they entered the cave and their flashlights shined upon their latest discovery, with Ann Bryson practically crying tears of joy, "H-how old is it?"

Kirkwood pulled up his omni-tool and started to take some scans of the relic, "Judging from the data, it's been here for around I'd say… some hundred-thousand years, give or take maybe some time before. But this…" He put away the scanner as Ann walked up to and brought a hand to feel it, "…this find is unlike any other so far."

Ann gazed at their discovery with excited eyes, and took in its appearance: the bright but weathered silver metal stood out from all other Prothean structures being completely different, it was well over twenty feet tall, and jutting out from the middle of it, were three large blue tinted bulbs that were in the arrangement of a trinity of sorts, and angles that encompassed the bulbs.

It was fascinating design, and unlike anything that had ever been on the record.

"I need to call my father, he needs to know about this."

As the team left to make the call and prepare to excavate even further, the bulbs lit of for but a split second.

It had traveled so far from beyond the galaxy after its trial from the one who fired the weapons. It needed only thing from his new masters: Atonement. But those that found him, were not those he sought out. I took him only one glance, to see their geas to see that they did not have _Her_ gift.

They were not worthy.

But those he helped from the foundry, the one he sent to kill his former master, would become worthy.

Atonement was all but so close, and yet so far from his grasp…

* * *

NEXT: INVESTIGATIONS

* * *

 _Observed extensive ground action on [LP 656-38 e]. 9,045 survivors barricaded within central government building. Structure's defenses inadequate to withstand extended siege by enemy ground forces (≈ 1,572,034,315+). Estimate position overrun in [173 hours]._

 _846 smaller groups in less defensible structures: global distribution corresponding to [probability model zeta]. Estimated local position overrun in [9 hours] (average)._

 _Observed local naval forces engage enemy irregular naval group near [DM -3-1123]. Enemy group consisted of 149 commercial shipping vessels, passenger ferries, and private recreational vessels from neighboring system. Enemy losses were total. No damage was sustained by local naval vessels._

 _However, it was immediately apparent that enemy group sought only to enter [D-3-1123 b's] atmosphere and make landfall. In this they were partially successful._

 _Observed extensive ground action on [DM-3-1123 b]. Enemy forces lacked basic unit cohesion but quickly gained numerical superiority. [32 hours] after enemy landfall 83% of local naval forces advocated total [destruction of the biosphere] following the evacuation of unmolested population centers. Enemy losses were total._

 _Estimated number of citizens evacuated before commencement of orbital blanket bombardment:_

 _1,318,797 civilian/42,669 military_

 _(.0006% of total population)._

-Data from aftermath of a battle between Forerunner and Flood forces in the final days of the Forerunner Ecumene, before firing the Halo Array

* * *

 _ **New chapter out, so let me know what you guys think. Casey Hudson has returned to Mass Effect… not sure how I feel about that since he did the ending to 3…**_

 _ **Also, Awakening the Nightmare… was fucking awesome! The Flood's return is imminent and it's only a matter of time before we get a final multi-faction battle in the finale of the Reclaimer Saga. And honestly, given the way the lore is going now, I highly doubt that the Reclaimer Saga will end in Halo 6, as there's still a lot to wrap up.**_

 _ **If anything, we will end up getting a Halo Wars 3 and then Halo 7 after Halo 6 to wrap things up.**_

 _ **Now onto the OC situation. Unfortunately, due to some bullshit, which I won't go into detail about, but I am seeking out OC's of these roles for a future sequel, in this series –**_

 _ **1) Blue Suns Human Merc Leader**_

 _ **2) Blue Suns Turian Merc Leader**_

 _ **3) Blue Suns Batarian Merc Leader**_

 _ **4) Blood Pack Krogan Merc Leader**_

 _ **5) Blood Pack Vorcha Merc Leader**_

 _ **6) Eclipse Human Merc Leader**_

 _ **7) Eclipse Asari Merc Leader**_

 _ **8) Eclipse Salarian Merc Leader**_

 _ **9) N7 Fury Adept**_

 _ **10) N7 Demolisher Engineer**_

 _ **11) N7 Shadow Infiltrator**_

 _ **12) N7 Paladin Sentinel**_

 _ **13) N7 Destroyer Soldier**_

 _ **14) N7 Slayer Vanguard**_

 _ **The Merc leaders should be willing to cross Aria and Shepard if it greatly benefits them, which when someone makes an offer to them on joining with their own merc group that's going to make a major power play within the next couple of years or so, they won't say no to the offer, even if that offer has them taking orders from one person, and his top lieutenant(s).**_

 _ **The N7's should each have a familiarity with each other as they will be on a team with each other for a long period of time under a Normandy crew member's command. Who they are I won't say, just know that they will play a major part in one of the sequels.**_

 _ **Please PM me the specifics behind the OC in this order and form –**_

 _ **1) Name**_

 _ **2) Age**_

 _ **3) Rank**_

 _ **4) Species**_

 _ **5) Gender**_

 _ **6) Preferred Weapon(s)**_

 _ **7) Armor**_

 _ **8) Appearance**_

 _ **9) Backstory**_

 _ **10) Personality**_

 _ **11) Likes**_

 _ **12) Dislikes**_

 _ **As always, continue to please read, review, favorite and follow my stuff. Especially those reviews, pleas say something more than just good job, or nice. It's cool to see all that, but I enjoy reading more in depth reviews, so please provide those more if you guys can.**_

 _ **See you guys next time!**_


	6. Chapter 5 - Investigations Part 1

_**It's been well over a year since I last updated this story, and I apologize. I wanted to put more into this chapter, however I felt that it was perhaps best to cut it in half in order to let you guys enjoy a new update.**_

 _ **So please enjoy this new chapter of The Roads of War.**_

* * *

 _Re: Enemy naval tactics:_

 _When engaged, the enemy commits every non-supraluminal craft with no appreciable pattern or strategy beyond making physical contact._

 _Conversely, all supraluminal craft leave on seemingly random trajectories._

 _I understand the goal of this mission but time – our least abundant resource – is wasted every time we do a system-wide scan for survivors. The time for saving lives has passed. We must accept this if we hope to win the war._

 _Re: Enemy ground tactics:_

 _All evidence suggests that use of overwhelming force is the very foundation of the enemy's combat doctrine. And I adamantly refuse to deploy personnel where the enemy has available forces numbering in the billions. With the very real likelihood we are rapidly becoming the last living specimens of our race, all personnel are henceforth confined to stasis until further notice. Even with everyone equipped with [C_12_CS[?]] we would have had very little chance of survival, let alone victory._

 _Recommendations:_

 _It is my opinion that any system where there is evidence that the enemy has established a physical presence is lost and must be razed. This fleet currently retains the capacity to force premature stellar collapse; I advise that this be established as standard operating procedure for all compromised systems forthwith. We cannot fight this war by half measures if we intend to win._

 _-Endurance-of-Will's analysis of the Flood's combat tactics_

* * *

Chapter 5 – Investigations Part 1: Of Things To Come…

The good old debriefing room. It never gets old, although Jane wished that they were able to grab some spare time to finish up the retrofits and renovating the rooms. It kinda annoyed her a bit with something not looking finished while it looked half-assed.

Well either way, she ditched her armor back down in the hangar and was back in her casual Alliance uniform, albeit with an N7 hoodie on.

She needed to talk to EDI about the A/C units in this place.

After sending the report to Hackett, she felt that she needed to know a bit more on how in the hell the Chief was able to make it down there alive and in one piece. Switching back to the current matter at hand, Hackett came up over the QEC, _"Commander, I read the report from Sur'Kesh. While I'm glad we're getting somewhere with this alliance, I can't help but wonder just what exactly what Cerberus was up to."_

Jane furrowed her brows as she leaned on the console, "No idea. Other than keeping use from getting the Krogan females, and maybe taking out the Salarian leadership." She shook her head, "The Illusive Man is up to something. He really wanted us dead down there. I noticed that he started fielding some new type of Spec Ops sniper soldier along with putting heavily modified Mechs out in the field. It looked like a YMIR on steroids." She knew that the Illusive Man was on the side of controlling the Reapers, but she couldn't figure out why he was deliberately trying to sabotage her and the others. If anything, this war would be a stalling measure more or less for him to bide time and figure out his own plans, and maybe lend _some_ support on the war with intel, or some agents to sabotage the Reapers at some point.

" _Then keep them at bay and keep on your toes, I can't tell you just how a victory like this could be a boon for the alliance. I'm also very impressed with how the Master Chief was able to stop the suicide bomber, saving the lives of everyone on board and jumping down to support you in the heat of battle."_

"He does have that tendency to surprise everyone with something that looks impossible."

" _I'm sure he does. I've sent an update to Udina and Anderson on the situation and what's happened."_

"And?"

" _Udina's already getting the drafts done with the other councilors with the exception of Tevos who is currently trying to talk some sense into the Matriarchs. Although Udina was a bit adamant on you getting the Chief to cough up some info on his government hoping to contact them."_

"Chief's not going to talk that quickly. And from what little he's told me about his people's history, I don't think they want to go to war so quickly after almost being exterminated." Hackett raised a brow in question prompting Jane to lightly wave it off, "I'll forward you a couple of notes later on that whole thing. What did Anderson have to say?"

" _Only that what you're doing and what this alliance is turning into one hell of a morale booster. It was all he was able to say in private message before he had to move to another small town to operate out of."_

That was good. Keeping the good news rolling to Earth to keep the resistance going strong, "So what new info do we have on the Prothean device?"

Hackett's voice changed to a mixture of proud and suspicion, _"Alliance R &D was able to begin construction a few days ago and we've been able to complete at least 40% of the known work on the device. The scientists and engineers have dubbed it Project: CRUCIBLE; it's going to be the most ambitious undertaking in human history, as for its' construction rate, we're throwing anyone and everyone that can hold a hammer."_

She was surprised at the rate they were at already after just a few days, "The Alliance has been able to get that much work done already?" She was shocked at the progress made on the weapon, but then again being under the threat of imminent extinction has the effect of getting work done all the faster. Necessity may have been the mother of invention, but Shepard had no doubts that war was it's father.

" _I'm not saying it was easy. We're still going to need the other races help with the device, but a few extra volunteers in Alliance space put their names up for help on getting it done. At first when we started construction with what Liara came across, we had no idea where to begin. But one of our scientists came across some program within the blueprints, almost a hidden in plain sight pattern that explained how to get it done so quickly."_

"How did we miss that when we pulled the data from the archives?"

" _I'm not entirely sure on that, but from what we've pieced together on the device, the design is massive in scope, but eerily simple to piece together. We can do this Shepard._ You _can do this. Don't doubt yourself for even a second."_ Hackett knew that the odds were in fact overwhelmingly against them, and this was their only shot at survival. He needed to make sure that everyone still had faith in winning, and Shepard was one of those shining beacons of it. If she lost faith, then they'd all lose faith.

Saluting one last time before their conversation came to an end, "Yes, sir." Returning the salute Hackett cut the QEC off, _"Good, Hackett out."_

Turning back to the war room, Jane made her way over to the table where it was all being planned out. Hackett just sent a hologram of the device on its construction rate, and it wasn't so bad looking. She saw the pieces that were already constructed as the rest of the outline was marked in red for future construction. She smiled at the progress already made, and hoped for a swift end to the Reaper's march. If she were any less mature than she would have made a joke about the...phallic shape of the device, but as of this moment Shepard could only smile at the first sign of the turn of the tide.

* * *

-SSV Kilimanjaro-

After the debrief on Sur'Kesh and the closing of the Citadel alliance, he made his way to his private quarters to take a private conversation that was necessary. Entering his quarters, he locked security down tight to keep any prying eyes and ears from overhearing and intercepting the information.

Doctor Garret Bryson came up on the QEC with a new report on Task Force Aurora, _"Admiral Hackett."_

"Dr. Bryson, you said you had something new to report?"

" _Yes, well saying it's something would be an understatement."_ He brought up the image of what his daughter recently discovered on Namakli, _"We've run the architectural designs through the archives from the Smithsonian all the way to Thessia University, and it's nothing like what's been discovered before, not even Reaper designs match it."_

Hackett placed a hand under his chin, "You found something that didn't seem to be made by Reaper or even Prothean hands?"

" _Exactly. We've tried accessing it, but every attempt has been met with shorted-out Omni-tools and burnt arms. Ann was able to get it loose from the rocks and have it brought to my lab here on the Citadel. We've hooked it up to try and keep the power going, but it seems to run off on its own source that we can't identify. The only thing we could gleam from it, was that the device held enough of power to run the Citadel ten times over."_ Bryson didn't need to know what the Alliance admiral was thinking already, but the man said it anyway, "Keep up your current work on hunting the Leviathan down, but this find could be a major advantage for us in the war. I'll see if I can forward some more resources your way discreetly; keep this under wraps and in a very closed loop. Cerberus recently made a bid to take out our leadership and wipe away the Genophage cure, there's no telling what they'd do if they find your outfit out."

" _I understand. I'll be sure to tighten security up here, and send word to Garneu and Ann. I'll contact you if something comes up."_

* * *

-Life Support; Normandy SR-2-

The Chief was currently looking over one of the weapons that they had acquired back on Sur'Kesh, a few Salarian weapons; mainly the Scorpion Heavy Pistol and the Venom Shotgun. However, he was more interested in the Cerberus modified M-13 Raptor. Taking it apart, he noticed that it held an extended Thermal Clip cylinder along with a Heavy Armor Piercing Mod, and the barrel had been changed to increase the velocity of the rounds. The Raptor seemed to be their equivalent to the UNSC's M392 DMR, or as close as possible. Another noticeable modification done to the Cerberus Raptor was that the second barrel that was usually part of the design, was removed entirely in favor of being an under barrel with spare Thermal Clips.

"You know, if you keep your time to just doing this and that, you'll find things to be pretty boring around here." Cortana was scrolling through news networks of the Citadel, seeing if anything of interest came up for her to analyze and pick apart for fun.

"Hmm." He shrugged at her comment. He found this to be a better use of his time with studying the enemy as opposed to doing what most of the other crew would do in their spare time. But they were currently at war and they should be keeping up their edge for combat. Cortana sighed as she swiped away the newscasts and brought up the Chief's Omni-tool, "Well since you're so enamored with that rifle, maybe you'll be the same with this new little piece of tech I just made while we've been here."

The Chief put the rifle down on the table as the AI had his attention, "You made something new within a few weeks?" He knew that Cortana could be particularly innovative if she wanted to. His newly upgraded armor being one source of creating and innovation, but he had to wonder just how much she could do with something much smaller than his armor. Along with such little time in comparison.

Standing up now to go full on 'Show Girl' for her little invention, Cortana cleared her throat per say for added effect, "Well after taking one of the Omni-tools that you grabbed from down below, along with using the nanomachines within your new heavily upgraded and modified MJOLNIR, I present to you… the Artemis Multi-Service Tracking System!" The once orange Omni-tool now glowed a tinted UNSC gray that was present within their military uniform. Gone was the organic architecture of the device, but now instead the angular architecture of their ships and computers were dominant. And a 3D hologram of the entire ship with the decks and maintenance ways, along with glowing outlines of the crew.

While it certainly appeared to be very different from the Omni-tools that he had seen being used by the people of this 'Mass Effect' society, he wasn't sure what all exactly Cortana had done to it. "Is there any difference between this and the Omni-tools that their military uses?"

Cortana beamed brightly at the unspoken challenge, "Alright so, other than the aesthetic redesign of the former Omni-tool, I've modified it for our own usage, and for future mass production for when we get back to the UNSC. It still has the standard features of the regular Omni-tool, but I've also changed up the Omni-blade to a dispenser for using it in the same way you would your Combat Knife; pull up the feature, and pull out the blade just like any other. I really can't believe they never found a way to detach the blade from the tool itself and keep it solid long enough for it to be used like a regular knife." The AI shook her hands to wave off the side track, "Anyways, I've managed to eliminate the problem of mapping out areas with the nanomachines, by using a form of echo location that bats use and by doing the same, we can map a wide area within the vicinity while combining it with the Motion Tracker, and even installing it into the system itself for our own soldiers to have on person. I was able to also use the firmware revision of your own armor for this as well, and even display it on your VISR when you don't have time to look down in a firefight." Swiping away she pulled up the vitals of his own body, "I've also managed to recreate the EV-44 Nightingale's restoration drone field to a much smaller degree with the help of the Alliance's own Mass Effect fields to minimize them to allow repair of armor, weapons, gadgets as well as healing organic matter like flesh wounds, and plasma burns. I can even get this baby to hack into our own systems including Covenant and Forerunner machinery if need be."

Another thing that seemed to amaze the Chief was Cortana's imagination with technology in creating and improving upon something that was already pre-existing. "You have a lot of time to yourself to create something like this."

"That I do." She brought up the latest thing she was intrigued by, and was hoping to have some sort of productive conversation with the Spartan, "So, what do you think?" The hologram above in the War Room now projected from the Artemis in front of the Chief, "Is this the device the Commander found on their Mars?" Cortana nodded, "Yup, they were able to get it up pretty quickly, all thanks to a very suspicious looking equation they found in the blueprints, that not even our shadowy neighbor found when she was pouring over the plans."

The Chief arched an eyebrow, "Not even she was able to find it?"

"Nope. A few Alliance scientists and engineers spotted it after looking over the plans within the first few minutes."

That surprised him. After reviewing the files on Shepard's crew members, he was sure that T'soni knew what to and not to look for when it came to looking over such things, but this seemed all too… odd… "You don't think that the Forerunners were somehow involved in that equation?"

Cortana dipped her head side to side in thought, "I'm honestly not sure about that myself. When I went over the plans, I didn't really look for any equations or of the sort, but instead I just put the pieces of the Crucible together where they seemed to fit best."

"Crucible?"

"Oh, that's the name of the project they named. It's apparently going to be 'the most ambitious project in human history'. Heh, if only they knew about all of what we did throughout our years." Referring to the UEG and UNSC accomplishments with creating the massive 800 various colonies, stations, outposts, etc. all before the Covenant came along and then what came after; mainly Project: INFINITY that was being discreetly constructed in the Oort Cloud away from the war utilizing literally every single advanced piece of UNSC tech to construct. And ever since the Forerunners' tech was discovered, no doubt it was being integrated along with Covenant tech and newly improved and developed UNSC technologies.

A massively scoped project that would showcase their advancement into the stars.

Suddenly an interesting ping came up over in Liara's cabin: a report about a small Reaper fleet over in the Terminus near the Maw section of space. "Chief, you need to listen to this…"

* * *

-Shepard-

Up above in the next deck, Jane had walked out of the War Room as she got a message from Liara to meet her in her cabin, apparently there was something important that she needed to show them, however she saw that a heated discussion was going on between Wrex and Victus. Despite the so-called sound proof glass, she could hear a bit of what was being said.

"You have the female, Wrex. The rest of the cure can come for your people later!" No doubt Victus was trying to ask Wrex to bring in his promised support he talked about from the summit. The Krogan clan chief crossed his arms and frowned slightly, "That wasn't the deal." He said whilst shaking his head.

By this time Jane walked in as she saw Mordin standing off to the side in his 'thinking' pose. No doubt doing the numbers and science of the cure in his head to explain to the two leaders on the nature of the Genophage for them to grasp the situation better.

"But Palaven needs your support now, we can't delay."

"Unless every Krogan gets the cure, there's no alliance." Wrex spoke with finality in his tone. This was something he wasn't going to budge on. Victus took a deep breath in and sighed, knowing that he was at the end of his road and now it all rode on the cure to be delivered to all Krogan. No shortcuts could be made to convince him to join their alliance so quickly, but he should've expected the response from the old Krogan.

Jane turned to Mordin hoping he had something to say in the situation, "Mordin, how long do you think it'd take to make the cure."

Dropping from his thinking pose, he began explaining in minor detail what all this would be entailing, "Need to synthesize base antigen from female tissue. Also require healthy male tissue. Will need a sample."

Wrex just waved a hand in their direction, "You're lookin' at it."

"Acceptable. Will need you to remain aboard _Normandy_ for procedure" Grumbling at the prospect of being forced to stay on the ship was quite what he was hoping for, "Let's just hope the food's gotten better…" Jane looked back to the Salarian doctor with a bit of skepticism. She knew that he could certainly do quite a bit with so little, as demonstrated with his work back on Omega with the plague cure, but given how the Genophage was very stubborn on not going away combined with his own work on making it stronger so the Krogan couldn't adapt, it certainly seemed very complex.

"Creating a cure for every Krogan sounds like a tall order, you sure you can do it?"

"Of course…" Mordin said without hesitation, "…similar to Genophage modification project. Working against own alterations and such. Not as simple as garbage DNA blocking attachment sites. Will need to counteract shutdown of redundant nervous system. Adjust neurotransmitter levels…" Nodding at the deeper details he was getting at, Jane felt that it was probably best to let things off at that point before they all got confused at his rapid coffee hamster science chatter. "Got it."

"Will create cure, Shepard. No need to worry."

"Then get started, and make it quick."

"Will need med-bay for work and safety of patient. Eve requires tests." Mordin made his way out the meeting room and towards the elevator, though leaving the others wondering about the Krogan female's name as it sounded more like a Human one instead, "Eve?"

Mordin turned back to explain, "Female's real name unknown. _Normandy_ human vessel. Human mythology seemed appropriate under circumstances. Suggest speaking with her. Surprising in Krogan." And with that, leaving the room to get straight to work, as the others were left to the privacy that the meeting room was supposedly offered with the glass doors shutting.

Jane looked to Wrex and Victus needing to know if anything had come up recently, "Anything else you two need to discuss with me?"

Victus spoke first, as his face seemed to hold a bit of worry in it, "There was a recent break in at one of our old military outposts. Cerberus was responsible, but we're still trying to figure out what exactly they wanted." Now that was odd. Turian military outposts usually kept some sort of stockpile list to ensure everything was kept in order, as it wasn't all that different from the Alliance military setup.

"Wait, Cerberus attacked and stole something from you, and you're not sure what they took?" The commander asked in surprise. Victus nodded as shame seemed to cross his face, "Yes. When they hit the outpost, they destroyed the manifest of all stockpiled weapons and equipment, along with burning the outpost down and destroying the tracking beacon to slow us down from tracing their location. We're still investigating what all happened, but we do know that something was stolen from survivor reports, but we're not sure what it was."

Jane bit her knuckles at this. Cerberus was getting bolder by the day now as it appeared with recent events happening, "Alright. Just keep me in the loop, because I want in on recovering whatever it was they stole." Then she turned to Wrex who seemed to be nervous, although she couldn't really say what for since he wasn't one to look like that. "Wrex?"

"Huh? Oh, right uhh… I have a bit of personal thing we can talk in private about." He looked to the Turian next him, "It's one of those things, if you catch my drift." He put his hands up in an understanding manner, "I understand."

And with that, everyone left for their posts while Jane made her way to the elevator, but not before Wrex whispered to her, "I'll message you later. I didn't want to mention it front of people in the open. Not while we've got a bunch of crap on our hands already."

"Gotcha."

Jane made her way over to her private terminal in the CIC opening it up to see that everything had been sorted properly with Alliance reports, newscasts, private messages, ads, etc. Though the garbage bin was filled up quite a bit and the more personal message forwarded up to the front being marked as a priority. She noticed that Wrex had already sent a message to her –

' _Meet over at Purgatory VIP bar. Grab a booth. Not safe to talk on_ Normandy _with so many ears. Old business from Noveria probably came up.'_

That was weird, she wasn't sure what he meant by the last message, but she could understand the Krogan's need for privacy.

"Joker, let's head to the Citadel. I've got some business to do there, and I'm sure everyone else has some things to do there."

" _Aye, aye, mein commandant."_

"Alright, time to see what Liara wanted to show me." Taking the elevator down to the crew deck, Jane strode over to the Asari's cabin. As the doors slid open, the VI; Glyph was its name, was occupied with a view screens on one end, combing through data for whatever use Liara could find for it. "Hey, you said you had something for me?"

Liara held an expression of both shock and worry, and perhaps a bit of awe in her, "Yes. You know that given my occupation, I come across info faster than most other people, and it hits my desk when it gets reported? Well, this…" bringing up her Omni-tool and typing in a few commands, "…has me concerned." The screens loaded with the galactic data all disappeared until they loaded up a Turian patrol fleet report. And what Jane saw, well she held the same expression Liara did.

"Holy shit…"

* * *

-Life Support-

The Chief took one quick look and knew what had just happened without listening to the details that Cortana raddled off before. "You and I both know who did this."

An entire Reaper fleet of at least twenty had been effectively destroyed and very little of them remained other than in chunks that were, going by the report: 'MELTED TO SLAG'. "The Covenant is moving outside the Orion arm." Throughout the war, the Orion arm was all the Covenant had focused on; the only parts of the galaxy that the war didn't take place in as far as they knew, was on Delta Halo; which was within a section of space that the Citadel races referred to as the Attican Traverse, though the system was not within the Codex with luck. And the other site was the Ark, which sat well beyond the edge of the Milky Way itself, and more than likely beyond the Reapers grasp. As for the Covenant's own grasp of territory, well they expanded at least ten times as much as the UNSC did, and they never came into contact with the 'Mass Effect' races as far as they knew.

"I've already gone through the specifics, and the amount of firepower that obliterated the Reaper fleet points to just one type of Covenant ship." Cortana brought up what any human would dread to see, "A CSO-class Supercarrier."

"I thought the Covenant only built a few of them but they were all destroyed?"

"Oh no, trust me. They made these things in the mid-double digits. _High Charity_ had at least a dozen of them before they started killing each other, supported by other ship classifications." When she uploaded herself into High Charity, not only was she just guiding the Chief and the POW's to Truth's location, and downloading their star charts, tech schematics, etc. she also had acquired the amount of ships that they had constructed. It still made her wonder just why they didn't send in the overwhelming number of ships in to wipe them out all the quicker.

"Are there anymore reports like this?" If there were, then Cortana could extrapolate a path through the galaxy as to where they were heading into.

The AI shook her head, "No, there haven't been any other reports as of yet. They made a slipspace jump as the Turian fleet came across large quantities of Cheronkov radiation. Where they're going? I have no idea, and I'm not comfortable knowing that." He agreed, the Reapers so far were a significant threat outside of UNSC space, but outside with none of the 'Mass Effect' capable of combating them properly, they couldn't be stopped, and there was no telling what their goal was this time.

"The commander will ask about the incident."

"I have no doubt she will, but instead of telling her 28km warship took out twenty Reapers like nothing, just say that it appeared to be a battlegroup of Battlecruisers led by an Assault Carrier. It'd put less strain and paranoia on everyone." If they were dealt news like that so soon in the situation, then they'd no doubt try push into the Maw to escape the Reapers to try and convince them to aid, but that was something no one would be willing to do.

"Hmm." He merely grunted, already seeing the logic in the lie. The Alliance, Citadel, and even the Terminus groups were suffering from losses due to the Reaper invasion, but to know that right next door was a fragmented group of religious fanatics that could kill Reapers in a single shot… the amount of paranoia and fear would skyrocket. Maybe the news of an organic race beating Reapers back with no casualties would embolden them, or this would give rise to fear another potential enemy.

* * *

-Liara's Cabin-

"Has anyone… chatted about this on the Extranet?" Shepard asked with hesitance. Liara shook her Liara shook her head, "No, so far the higher ups have kept this quiet while they investigate what happened." The Shadow Broker brought up analytics taken from VI drones with the results of the state of the Reaper 'corpses'. "So far they took samples from the edges of where they were attacked from showcases that heavy ionic charge separation was used in their destruction. The Geth have been experimenting from what little I've gathered on plasma-weaponry research, but nothing on this level of a scale comes close to this amount of firepower." Both women looked to each other in knowing that while they thought they knew just about everything about the races of the galaxy, the discovery of the Chief showed them that they may not know as much as they thought they did.

"I think I should stop by the Chief and ask him." Jane turned to head to Life Support down the hall, while Liara brought up something else, "Alright then, although there is something else I need to bring up." The tone seemed a bit more on the positive yet felt like she was treading on some thin ice, but friendly ice at that. Jane turned back around to wonder what it was, "And~ that would be…?"

"The Illuminated Primacy has offered a substantial reward for a Prejak Paddlefish…" The awkward smile came across in a painful way, well sort of, across Liara's face, "… and considering that you have a few in your tank…" Well, Jane held a deadpan expression with that bit of news.

"…"

"…"

"I am not selling one of my cut & precious little Paddlefish for quick cash." Pointing up to her cabin.

Liara had a feeling she would say that, so she brought up what all exactly the Hanar was offering, "They're offering substantial weapon upgrades along with new Biotic implants, Tech Omni-Tools, advanced weapon power recharge cycles, and some quick cash. Which given how many guns and mods you've been buying up wherever you go…" Liara brought up multiple items that she had down in the hangar bay.

Well that got her to change her tune quickly, "I'll think about it." Liara just smirked knowing that Jane would eventually relent in the end, "I'll keep a channel to them open when you decide." Jane left the room to make headway to the Chief with hopefully some answers.

The door to Life Support opened with a blue light disappearing out of her view; stepping in she saw the Chief with his helmet off stripping and putting back together the various weapons along with the usual military ration bags discarded after eating. All of which was in an orderly fashion; lots of things strolled around that made the room appear to be cluttered, but all kept in a tidy fashion.

He wasn't one for social things, that was for sure.

"Hey, Chief. Got a question for you, big guy." The Chief stood at attention though she signaled that he could be loose, though she doubted that doing so would make things less… what was the word? Formal? Oh, well… "Ma'am?"

Jane pulled up her Omni-tool to bring up the report that Liara came across concerning the destroyed Reaper fleet, "Well, I got a report from Liara that a recon fleet came across a destroyed Reaper fleet, which well…" She chuckled briefly before whistling in both admiration and a bit of maybe scarcity, "… was completely destroyed."

The Chief knowing full well the Covenant did this, played dumb, "Shouldn't this be good news, ma'am?" Jane only nodded her head side to side in response, somewhat hesitant on the good side, "Well, yeah no duh it's damn good thing. But… thing it, no one knows who did it."

Jane pulled out her Omni-Tool as she brought up the report from the patrol, "Turians found these deader than dead Reapers floating out at the edge of known space. They pulled scans from the wrecks and found that someone used some pretty advanced plasma wea—"

"Four CCS-class Battlecruisers supporting a single CAS-class Assault Carrier ma'am. Covenant." The Chief interrupted. The lie came so easily to him, "Covenant ships use plasma-based weapons on all of their ships; military and civilian." That part was the truth. The first Covenant ship that Johnson encountered was a cargo transport, to which had yet to fire on them when they first encountered one another.

The little gloss over his recent history gave her the chills now, "Holy shit, so they're moving into our territory…"

Cortana could only guess to why they were moving, though any reason to do so was lost on her. The Chief calmly spoke up, "The Covenant are not a threat at the moment, ma'am. The Reapers and Cerberus should be our primary focus. Anything else added, would only incite more panic and spread forces to thin."

He was right, and she knew it. A force that could bring Reapers down like nothing, with FTL travel that potentially didn't run on Eezo would only make people dumb, panicky and do something stupid in response. Jane nodded her head, "Ok then. Let's just keep this small revelation to ourselves for now." Shutting her Omni-Tool off, the Chief took this as a sign that she was dropping the subject, although…

"Though, I would like to know just what exactly the Covenant's capable of in space combat, if they were able to do that to Reapers." She'd be stupid to think that there wouldn't be more incident like this in the future, and she'd be even more so to believe that they wouldn't run into them one day. If she had a good idea of what they could do in space, they'd be better prepared for potential combat against them.

"A report will be filed, ma'am." He would type one up, however he knew Cortana was already handling that on her end. Jane gave a thumbs up, "Awesome. We're stopping by the Citadel for a while to take care of some business…" Jane looked around once again at the state of the room, "…you should get out of here Chief, stretch your legs and see the sights."

He was about to protest, until she held a finger up, "Uhp, uhp! No arguments. Take some shore leave, that's an order soldier." She smiled to herself as she left Life Support; as for his snarky companion…

" _You heard her, CO's orders, Chief."_ She just had to parrot the commander to throw it in his face.

He supposed he could track down some vendors that could sell raw materials, "Hmm."

* * *

-Remains of the _Forward Unto Dawn_ -

The last few days inside this wreck were both exciting and boring. Exciting for the eggheads; boring for the Blue Suns mercs that were contacted on Zorya had taken the job of providing protection to scientists on some salvage run out in the middle of nowhere. They were able to set up a Mass Effect field that encompassed the hangar in order for them to pump oxygen through the ship, just so they wouldn't have to constantly worry about a helmet getting busted.

"So, how long is this bitch duty going to last?"

"No idea. Just keep it together, at least until we get the doors to this place open."

Two of said mercs were down in the makeshift hangar bay, shooting the shit with one another as they stayed away from the work. The Batarian handed the Human a cigarette as an offer, though he declined with a wave of his hand, "Well…" Taking the lighter out from his pocket, he clicked it a few times to get a fire and lite is cig up, "…if you ask me. We're getting an easy job, instead of going to the front lines with the others. Plus, I'd rather be here, than in Aria's growing little army she has to take back Omega."

The human did concede the point, "True enough. We probably should've brought a TV with us to at least relax in between shifts."

"I brought a pack of cards and some—"

"Hey!"

The two mercs turned to a Turian commander whom was in charge of security on the salvage site, turn the corner of the hallway they were in, "You two seen Henderson?" The two shook their heads.

The Turian seemed pissed, "Well since you two are about to go back on duty, go look for him, and tell him to get his comm back online. He hasn't answered a damn call." The commander turned back as he marched over to the ship to send the update report back his own superiors.

The two Merc's just looked at each other as they shrugged it off, "Why the hell does he have his comms off?"

The Batarian could only guess, "Wanted some alone time? We've all got needs." They headed down the hallways of eerily quiet ship, save for the areas where they were trying to crack open the doors to unlock the rest of the ship to explore and study. The main problem was that the doors leading to crucial areas were all magnetically locked and were too thick to pry open. Emergency hatches were too small to get the equipment through and the maintenance access ways were either blocked by debris or led to dead ends.

The only option they had was to cut through with a heavy duty plasma torch that needed to be bolted down to the floor, hence why they were taking so long. Either way, they were getting off easy compared to some of their other mercs currently in the field or waiting to get out and kill some Reapers or cut out some throats from Cerberus.

"Hey, Henderson!" The Human Merc called out, "You masturbating to some Asari crap." The Batarian had to still a laugh. Henderson had and Asari fetish which they routinely made fun of.

A shot rang further down the hallways over to the mess hall that was unlocked. Both mercs ran down to see that Henderson, another human was point his gun up into the vents with a smoking hole in the ceiling, "Henderson, what the hell're you shooting at?"

Henderson was sweating as he looked all around him in a paranoid fashion, as he spoke without turning to face his coworkers, "I'm hearing shit in this place, some… slithering in the vents, man."

They looked around as they clicked the safeties off their rifles and adjusted them to fire at the ready. Not a sound came from the vents above them, as they set back at ease, "You're too damn twitchy. You on something?" The Batarian asked.

Henderson just glared at him, "No, I'm not on something. I know what I fucking heard. There's something in here with us." The other human just shook his head at this and walked over to Henderson, "Look whatever it was, we'll kill it. The boss says you're going on break and we're on duty. Go back to your bunk and watch a porno or something."

"Fuck you guys." Henderson deadpanned. The three men just walked back while the Batarian glanced back above them, thinking that maybe Henderson was right as he heard a slight skittering noise from above them.

* * *

-Citadel Docking Bay D24-

Some of the _Normandy_ crew disembarked to do their own business, while the rest stayed behind to continue their work onboard. Well one was forced to come outside his shell, so to speak.

The Chief felt it best to head down to the Presidium Commons for the market they had on raw materials for weapons, though he did his best to ignore the little voice in his head, _"Awww~, he's finally moving out of the house. They grow up so fast."_ She shed a mock tear as he walked among the various aliens and humans of the station, whilst taking the elevator down to the Presidium Commons, a more 'peaceful' part of the station where you were less likely to get ambushed by someone wanting what you had.

He gave a light slap on the back of his head to have her think twice about the teasing of the like, _"Right… sorry."_ He brought up the Artemis to see the list of what he needed, "Where's the best shop for what we need, Cortana?"

" _For what we're looking for, we should probably head to Kassa Fabrications. They prefer letting the customer make their own weapons as opposed to selling the full thing, given many of the parts they sell are pretty heavy duty."_ He scrolled through their stock, and saw that the materials and parts that could create guns were illegal in Citadel space, "They haven't been flagged for their products?"

" _Nope."_ The AI shook her head, _"Technically they can sell the parts, as owning them aren't illegal, however putting certain parts together to forge certain weapons, well then you're looking at the customer only getting arrested. Pretty shady business, but with the war going on, I highly doubt anyone's considered the repercussions."_

"War profiteering's nothing new, happened in every conflict from Mesopotamia to New Mombasa." The chief replied nonchalantly.

He wasn't very concerned with that, though he did have to wonder just how many people had illegal guns in their closet or under the bed, and how many were killed by the owners due. Although he didn't doubt that they kept track of the parts like any responsible vendor.

Either way, he looked over the list that he needed. Mostly comprised of steel, tungsten, depleted uranium, aluminum, copper, cupro-nickel, lead, etc. It shouldn't be too hard to get all of these items in one place, right?

* * *

-Outside Purgatory Bar VIP Floor-

Jane had arrived outside the bar to meet up with Wrex first, since he seemed a little concerned back on the ship. Though she would've preferred having the conversation back up in her cabin where they could still have some privacy, but then again, Wrex didn't feel convinced that they were safe to talk onboard, she was about to step through the doors, until she heard Garrus behind her, "Jane?"

She turned to see that it wasn't just Garrus, but also Liara alongside him whom brought up the email, "I take it you also got Wrex's message? _'Business on Noveria'_?" Well, ok then. Guess having some of the old crew told her that things weren't exactly good, with what he had to say, "We should probably get a table away from everyone else, I'm sure whatever it is Wrex has to say he didn't want anyone overhearing it." The three crewmates strode inside, with music blaring to high levels, peopled dancing above and below them, others getting drunk, talking amongst themselves, etc.

The picked out an empty round table near the corner, though while some people were nearby, odds are they wouldn't overhear the conversation. Taking their seats, an awkward silence came over them, while they waited for Wrex, who should've been right behind them if they weren't mistaken, Jane felt it best to go ahead tell Liara about the little graveyard of Reapers.

"By the way, Liara. I did find out who it was that turned those Reapers to scrap." Liara had a feeling who it was, though now Garrus was intrigued, "Wait, a bunch of dead Reapers, and this is the first I'm hearing about it? Color me interested, so who did the deed?"

Jane scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, "Long story short; a Turian patrol came across a bunch of dead Reapers and filed it back, but it's being kept quiet until someone takes responsibility. Although, I brought this up to the Chief, and he says it was a small fleet of Covenant ships that killed those Reapers."

Garrus noticed that Jane wasn't so enthusiastic about the news, "So… shouldn't this be a good thing? What's the human saying? 'Don't look a gift horse in the eye'?" Jane laughed a bit at that. Garrus always seemed to get their saying wrong, "It's mouth, not eye, Garrus." Her finger was tapping the table to speed time up by some miracle, "And yeah, it can be a good thing, but… I'm not so sure…"

Liara stayed silent as she contemplated of such a force moving through the galaxy that could kill Reapers so easily, while seeing the possible scenarios that could play out if the truth got out, "The thing is, Garrus. If the Covenant is moving into our territory, and out of theirs, it could mean that we'll have a new enemy to deal with."

Jane gave a look to her scar faced friend, trying to think of an analogy to get across the potential shitstorm that the Covenant's presence could be, it was harder than you think when you had to factor in difference in culture. "How many ships did it take to bring down Sovereign Garrus, and that was a single Reaper, admittedly stronger than a standard Reaper but still just the one. This was a group of over a dozen Reapers, reduced to molten slag floating in space. and from what the Chief tells me it was a standard battle group of Covenant ships that did the deed. Are you starting to see why people may get concerned?"

Garrus was about to ask more, until they heard Wrex's voice cutting in, "Glad to see you guys made it. Sorry 'bout the wait, I had to take the scenic route." Wrex slid over onto his seat as it creaked a bit, while he got closer to the others, "Didn't want anyone following me. Can't be too careful nowadays, what with Cerberus poking where they shouldn't be."

Feeling it best to address just why Wrex brought them here, Liara spoke up, "You messaged only the three of us to meet with you, Wrex. So why all the secrecy?" Wrex shuffled in his seat as he waved them to get closer, "I sent some scouts to check out the Rachni relay. Heard rumors of trouble in the area." The other table occupants were surprised as Jane voiced it, "Rachni?!"

Wrex motioned for them to settle down, glancing around them to check if anyone was listening, "Thought that might get your attention. I've got a favor to ask you guys. It's big. I couldn't bring it to anyone else, since you were the only ones there that day."

The Turian sniper could only shake his head in disbelief, "They're back? But this doesn't make any sense. The last queen promised she'd disappear…"

"…on the condition that they'd never show themselves to the galaxy again…" Liara continued.

"…or risk being destroyed for good and going back to being extinct." Jane finalized. The Krogan could only nod, "I know. All I know for sure was that our scouts went silent as soon as they arrived. I've got a bad feeling about this. Maybe it's Rachni, maybe it's something else. Could be another invasion." Wrex took out a flask; likely Ryncol, and took a swig before putting it down, "Either way, this needs to be taken care of, and I only trust you three right now."

Back in the good old days when they were hunting Saren down, the crew of the SR1 had formed a close-knit relationship with one another; that they could count on one another to watch their backs and keep their secrets to themselves.

"We'll find out what happened, Wrex."

Nodding in acceptance, Wrex gave a toothy smile, "I knew could count you guys. Just like the old days…" Looking back at the bar, he got an idea, "…and like the old days, time to get into a drinking contest!" Jane put her hands up in protest as she got up from her seat to make way back to the entrance, "As much as I'd love to get into a drinking contest with you guys again, I've got to go find the Chief and make sure no one tried to step on his toes."

She knew she'd lose so damn fast. Well, better to cut and run at times.

* * *

-The Chief & Cortana-

" _Now this is a nice place to be settled into."_ Cortana commented on the Presidium Commons; a place where a more than wealthy or at least well-connected citizen could afford to get an apartment. Here there were offices, embassies, marketplaces, parks, etc. The supposed shining image of the Citadel and the culmination of what galactic peace could provide if achieved, but John knew better.

Here is where the political power was consolidated among these 'Mass Effect' civilizations. Where the newly introduced races were shown off to the Council's so-called accomplishments, and that it was all a veiled showcase of power.

"This place is too exposed to aircraft fire." New Alexandra back on Reach had most of its areas covered by Plexiglas. One could easily take a C-Sec shuttle and bolt down a heavy machine gun, open the door and fire on the civilians below, killing quite a few people before C-Sec could be scrambled to counter said shuttle. _"Oh, lighten up. Just relax a bit before we head back into the lion's den. Besides it wouldn't hurt too much to see more of this place to put together a nice combat scenario back home."_

Referring to both potential engagements within the Citadel from Cerberus and Reapers, or for UNSC forces to take it. Never knowing if they would be received as hostiles.

He took in the sights as many people appeared to be at ease with their lives. Going about daily business, spending time with significant others. Ignoring the deaths beyond the station. He could tell they knew what was happening, but they ignored it in favor of living in bliss. He didn't know how those on Earth and the colonies were living, but they did acknowledge the Covenant War. The Chief wasn't sure why he expected them to acknowledge it…

Reading through the signs he found Kassa Fabrications off to the side, overlooking a large vista that had several benches along the edge. Marching over, he saw that one of the workers, a human, was sipping coffee while looking over some datapad. A manifest most likely for restocking, _"Well, what're you waiting for caveman? Ask away."_

The Chief cleared his throat to grab the vendor's attention, "Sir." The vendor raised his head as he started talking, "How can I help… you… sir…?" No doubt taking in his massive appearance. Deciding to just cut the time short, he brought up the manifest and showed it to the man, "I need raw materials for weapons fabrication. Deliver to docking bay D24 onboard the SSV _Normandy_."

The vendor was no longer looking at the Chief, as he directed his attention down towards the Artemis, "Uhm, yeah we've got all of that…" Punching up the numbers he saw, he showed the total up on his datapad, "…if you can afford it. Along with the handling of delivered materials."

600,000 credits plus extra for delivery. Not a cheap price for what he was asking. He thought that war time would make them more affordable to military. Although Cortana eased his mind, _"Don't worry. I have that little account I have just for us. I'll handle the finances."_ She had the account number wired to the Artemis as she transferred the credits to the vendor, along with extra to have them bring it aboard the _Normandy_.

All the while this was happening, the Chief suddenly got a chill going up his spine. He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt as if somebody was watching the back of his head; feeling the need to get back to the ship, he was about to speak up about anything regarding the transaction, however he got a ping on the Artemis: a message.

Hopefully the commander had a new mission for them, alas it was not. A message from an 'Unknown Sender' along with 'No Subject'. Not sure what exactly this was, though his blood ran cold as soon as he saw that single word –

 _ **"** **I see you, Reclaimer."**_

Turning around to scan the crowd, he quickly cast glances everywhere he could find someone looking at him, but there was nothing. The balconies that stretched across from the vista were numerous and he couldn't pinpoint whomever it was that sent that message. They had to be looking right at him to send the message from its contents.

Cortana was yelling at him, but he was ignoring her until he felt a slight shock on his neck, _"John! What happened?! Your heart rate and adrenaline levels spiked!"_

The Chief was confused. Shouldn't she have caught the message when it came through? "I'll explain later, we need to get back to the _Normandy_." Cortana left a message on the digital receipt for the vendor to keep the change, as they made their way back to the docking bays his thoughts raced.

The only beings that called him Reclaimer were the monitors of the Halo rings.

343 Guilty Spark.

2401 Penitent Tangent.

They, and they alone called him Reclaimer in each verbal engagement. When he first met them, when they would start a conversation or give him some information.

They couldn't be a Monitor on board the Citadel, could there? Taking the elevator back up to docking, he ran right into the commander waving a hand for his attention, "Hey, Chief. Where's the fire?" She saw how he quickened his pace back to the _Normandy_ , and he ignored the question as he brought forth his own, "Do we have a new mission, commander?"

If she was a betting woman -to which she would admit to having such a guilty pleasure- then she would say he was on edge. Many other people couldn't tell, but she slowly began to pick up on the Chief's gestures, tones, etc. as she was able to make out if he was annoyed like he was with something not going his way, putting up with her talking to him like a regular human being. Whatever it was that put him this way, was not something he would so openly discuss. Feeling the tense atmosphere, he was putting off she nodded as she spoke, "We've got a group of missing scouts, and they haven't been heard from in over twenty-four hours. We're heading out to find out what happened and kill whatever happened to 'em."

The Chief nodded his head in acceptance, as they left to to depart onwards to their next mission, all the while John's mind was occupied. Somehow… someway…

…the past found him…

* * *

-NEXT: RACHNI-

* * *

 _ **And done! Once again, I apologize for the massive delay in an update, plot bunnies for new stories sprung up in my head and I just had to get them down.**_

 _ **Now as far as OC's go, I am still looking for these characters –**_

 _ ***Blood Pack Vorcha Leader**_

 _ ***Blue Suns Batarian Leader**_

 _ ***Eclipse Salarian Leader**_

 _ ***N7 Fury Adept**_

 _ **These characters are what I'm still looking for, so if you guys have any of them, feel free to send them over, or even some that I already have such as –**_

 _ ***Blood Pack Krogan Leader**_

 _ ***Blue Suns Turian Leader**_

 _ ***Blue Suns Human Leader**_

 _ ***Eclipse Asari Leader**_

 _ ***Eclipse Human Leader**_

 _ ***N7 Destroyer Soldier**_

 _ ***N7 Shadow Infiltrator**_

 _ ***N7 Slayer Vanguard**_

 _ ***N7 Demolisher Engineer**_

 _ ***N7 Paladin Sentinel**_

 _ **Having all of these characters inter connected will be a big help, though that's all your choice.**_

 _ **Now as for what format you'll need to submit them in it will need to be like this –**_

 _ **1) Name**_

 _ **2) Age**_

 _ **3) Rank**_

 _ **4) Species**_

 _ **5) Gender**_

 _ **6) Preferred Weapons**_

 _ **7) Appearance**_

 _ **8) Backstory**_

 _ **9) Likes**_

 _ **10) Dislikes**_

 _ **So until next time, please continue to read, review, favorite and follow my other stories on my profile. Hopefully the next chapter I put put, will be the revamp of my Marvel story :)**_

 _ **P.S. Please, when you guys review, let me know what you guys think of the chapter. What you liked and/or disliked about it.**_


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